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THE   CRUIKSHANK 
FAIRY-BOOK 

Four  Famous  Stories 

I.  PUSS  IN  BOOTS 
H.  JACK  AND  THE  BEAN-STALK 
in.  HOP-O'-MY-THUMB 
IV.  CINDERELLA 

With  Forty  Illustrations  by 

GEORGE  CRUIKSHANK 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 
NEW  YORK  &  LONDON 
Cbe  fviiickcrbochcr  prcsa 


CDDC 

LIBRARY 


CONTENTS. 


Puss  in  Br>ots 

The  History  of  Jack  and  the  Bean-Stalk 
Hop-G -My-Thimib  and  the  Seven-League  Boots  . 
Cinderella  and  the  Glass  Slipper 


PAGE 

I 

47 
105 
155 


*»*  The  story  Puss  in  Boots  is  included  in  the  present 
collection  with  the  courteous  permission  of  Messrs.  George 
Bell  &  Sons. 


3;]8014 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PUSS   IN    BOOTS. 

PAGE 

Tom  Puss,  cofisoling  his  Master,  a7id  askifig  for 

a  Pair  of  Boots  and  a  Suit  of  Clothes  .  3 

Tom    Puss   catching  a   Rabbit — i7i    the   Rabbit 

Warreji      .         .         .         .         .         .  .13 

Tom  Puss  presenting  a  Rabbit  to  the  King  in 

the  Royal  Palace  .         .         .         .         .13 

Torn  Puss  telling  the  King  that  his  Master,  the 

Marquis  of  Car  abas,  is  in  the  River   .         .        19 

Tom  Puss,  after  his  Master  is  dressed,  intro- 
duces him  to  the  King  as  the  Marquis  of 
Carabas      .         .         .         .         .         .         .    •   19 

Tom  Puss  commands  the  Readers  to  tell  the 
King  that  all  the  fields  belong  to  the  Most 
Noble,  the  Marquis  of  Carabas   .  .  .23 

The    Ogre    turns    himself  into    an    Elephant — 

Tom  Puss  pretends  to  be  frightened    .         .       27 

The  Ogre  turjis  himself  into  a  Lion — Tom 
Puss  is  still  7nore  frightened  and  asks  the 
Ogre  to  cha7ige  into  a  Mouse       .         .         .2" 


vi  Illustrations 


PAGE 


The    Ogre   Izirjis   himself  into  a  Mouse — Tom 

Puss  springs  2ip07i  hivi  and  kills  Imn         .        27 

Tom  Puss  receimng  the  King,  the  Princess,  and 

his  Master  at  the  Castle      ....       39 

The  Wedding  Feast,  aiid  To7Jt  Puss   snaking  a 

Speech         .......       39 

THE  STORY  OF  JACK  AND  THE 
BEAN-STALK. 

Jack  cli77ibing  the  Bean-Stalk  ....  49 
Jack  shows  Kind^iess  to  a  poor  old  Woman  .       59 

Who  turns  out  to  be  a  Fairy,  and  .  .  '59 
Who  gives  him  the  wonderftd  Bean  which   he 

sets  in  the  Garden  .  .  .  .  '59 
fach  gets  the  Golden  Hen  away  from  the  Giant  y'j 
fack  and  the  Fairy  Harp  escaping  f'o^n  the 

Giant  .......       85 

The  Fairies  tie  the  Giant  up  in  the  Bea^i-Stalk  .  93 
Jack  brings  the  Giant  Prisoner  to  King  Alfred      99 

HOP-O'-MY-THUMB  AND  THE  SEVEN- 
LEAGUE  BOOTS. 

The  Father  proposes  to  lose  the  Children  .  .  107 
They  leave  Hop-O -My-Tlunnb  afid  his  Brothers 

i7i  the  Wood        .         .         .         .         .         .107 


Illustrations  vli 

PAGE 

The  Giant-Ogre  discovers  Hop-G My-Thnmb  and 
his  Brothers  whom  his  JVi/c  had  cndcav- 
otcred  to  conceal  fi'om  him  .         .         .         •      ^33 

The  Giant-Ogre  in  his  Scvcn-Lcague  Book  pnr- 
sning  Hop-O -Aly-Thiimb  a?id  his  Brothers, 
who  hide  ifi  a  Cave      .         .         .         .         .139 

The  Giant-Ogre  falls  asleep  ;  Hop-O-My-Thiunb 
pulls  off  the  Sevcn-Leag2tc  Boots  whilst  his 
Brothers  ru7i  away     .         .         .         .         .143 

Hop-G -AIy-Thu7nb  leads  his  Brothers  out  of  the 

Wood  .         .         .         .         .         .         .147 

//op- O'-Afy- Thumb  pnts  071  the  Seven-Leagne 
Boots,  escapes  fro77i  the  Gia7it,  a7id  goes 
//o77ie .         .         .         .         .         ,         .         .147 

//op-O -A/y-Th7U7ib  arrives  at  //o77ie  before  his 
Brothers,  shoius  the  Seve7i- League  Boots  to 
his  Father  a)id  tells  hi77i  all  about  the  Gia7it' 
Ogre  .         .         .         .         .         .         .147 

//op-G -My-Thtmtb  prese7iti7ig  the  Seve7i-League 

Boots  to  the  Ki7ig        .         .         .         .         •      1 5 1 

CINDERELLA  AND  THE  GLASS 
SLIPPER. 

Ci7iderella  171  the  Chimney-Corner      .         .  .157 

Ci7iderella  scouring  the  Pots  a7id  Kettles     .  .163 

Ci7iderella  helpi7ig  her  Sisters  to  dress  for  the 

Royal  Ball          .         .         ,         ,          ,  .163 


viii  Illustrations 

PAGE 

The  Ptinipkm,  and  the  Rat,  a7id  the  Mice,  and 
the  Lizards,  being  changed  by  the  Fairy  into 
a  Coach,  Horses,  and  Servants,  to  take  Chi- 
derella  to  the  Ball  at  the  Royal  Palace         .      173 

The  Faiiy  changing  Cinderella  s  Kitchen  Dress 

into  a  bcautifzil  Ball  Dress .         .         .         •      ^73 

The  Prince  picking  up  Cinderella! s  Glass  Slipper     183 

Cinderella   leaving  the  Royal  Palace  after  the 

Clock  had  struck  twelve      .         .         .         .183 

The  Heralds  proclaiming  the  Princes  Wish,  that 
all  the  single  Ladies  should  try  on  the 
Glass  Slipper      .         .         .         .         .         .187 

Cinderella   having  fitted  071  the  Glass  Slipper 

produces  its  Fellow     .         .         .         .         .187 

The  Marriage  of  Cinderella  to  the  Prince  .         .     197 


Puss  in  Boots 


Puss  in  Boots 


N  ancient  times — that  is,  a  long 
time  ago,  and  when  this  country 
was  divided  into  many  small  king- 
doms— there  lived  in  the  country, 
a  very  long  way  from  London,  a 
poor  Miller,  who  had  three  sons,  named  Araba,  Baraba, 
and  Caraba.  The  Miller  had  saved  a  little  money, 
and  as  he  was  orrowinor  old  he  retired  from  business 

o  o 

and  went  with  his  wife  to  live  in  a  cottage  which 
belonfjed  to  him,  and  which  was  a  short  distance  from 
the  Mill,  and  at  a  convenient  distance  for  his  sons  to 
come  to  their  meals,  the  sons  all  sleeping  in  the  cot 
at  the  side  of  the  old  wind-mill. 

The  Miller  told  his  sons  on  the  day  he  left  the  mill 
that  through  life  he  had  had  many  hardships  and  diffi- 
culties to  encounter,  and  all  he  could  do  for  them 
now  was  to  give  the  mill  to  Araba,  his  eldest  son  ;  the 


6  Puss  in  Boots 

Ass  that  carried  the  corn  to  market  to  his  second  son. 
Baraba  ;  and  the  Cat  which  kept  the  mill  free  from 
rats  and  mice  to  his  youngest  son,  Caraba.  He  told 
them  that  they  might  have  hardships  and  difficulties 
to  meet  with  as  they  went  through  life  as  well  as  him- 
self ;  but  if  they  had,  they  must  not  despond  or  be 
downhearted,  but  pray  to  God  to  give  them  strength 
to  work  on  and  to  persevere  in  what  they  were  doing, 
if  what  they  were  doing  was  right;  and  if  they 
wanted  advice  they  knew  that  he  would  be  too  glad 
to  ofive  it  them. 

The  youngest  son  and  the  Cat  were  very  great 
friends,  which  may  be  accounted  for  in  this  way  : 
Caraba  was  very  kind  to  animals,  and  his  kindness  to 
Tom  Puss  (for  the  Puss  was  a  ge7itlemati  cat !)  made 
him  very  fond  of  Caraba,  and  he  used  to  follow  his 
young  master  about  the  mill  like  a  dog,  and  when 
Caraba  went  from  the  mill  Tom  Puss  would  go  with 
him  for  some  short  distance,  and  then  return  to  the 
mill  and  take  his  place  just  inside  the  door  of  the  cot 
or  the  granary  and  watch  for  his  return. 

But  there  was  another  reason  besides  the  kindness 
of  Caraba  for  the  Cat  being  fond  of  him,  and  that  was, 


Puss  in  Boots  7 

because  he  had  saved  his  Hfe  upon  one  occasion,  and 
Puss  seemed  never  to  have  forgotten  this,  and  ap- 
peared to  be  always  grateful  for  this  service,  and 
which  happened  in  this  way. 

As  Caraba  was  one  day  standing  by  the  mill  he 
saw  what  he  at  first  thought  to  be  a  hare  or  a  rabbit 
chased  by  a  dog  and  coming  towards  the  mill  ;  but  as 
they  came  nearer,  he  discovered  that  it  was  a  poor 
cat  which  the  dog  was  running  after,  so  he  snatched 
up  a  large  stick  that  was  lying  on  the  ground,  just  by 
him,  and  ran  forward  to  defend  poor  pussy,  and  drive 
back  the  dog,  which  he  succeeded  in  doing,  but  with 
some  difficulty,  for  it  was  a  great  big  dog,  and  a  very 
ugly  and  very  savage  one.  However,  he  pretended 
to  pick  up  some  stones  to  throw  at  it,  and  it  turned 
tail  and  ran  back  the  way  it  had  come.  Dogs  will 
always  run  away  if  you  even  pretend  to  pick  up  stones 
to  throw  at  them.  Tom  Puss  had  run  and  hid  him- 
self behind  some;  sacks  in  the  granary  ;  but  when 
Caraba  went  in,  and  in  a  kind  tone  called,  "  Puss, 
Puss,"  Puss  came  creeping  out  slowly,  and  then  Car- 
aba stroked  him  gently  over  the  head  and  shoulders, 
and  then  gave  him   something  to  eat,  and  ever  after 


8  Puss  in  Boots 

that  they  were  the  best  of  friends,  and  Puss  became 
a  great  favourite  with  Caraba's  parents  and  brothers, 
and  gave  great  satisfaction  by  keeping  all  rats  and 
mice  away  from  the  cot  and  mill,  and  from  eating  the 
corn. 

Caraba  was  a  very  dutiful  son — a  very  handsome 
and  a  very  good  young  man,  and  very  industrious — 
doing  all  he  could  to  help  his  elder  brothers.  Some- 
times he  had  to  q-q  with  flour  to  the  market-town 
near,  in  which  resided  the  King  of  those  parts  in  a 
castle  near  the  town.  All  the  kings  and  great  barons 
lived  in  castles  in  those  days  ;  and  it  so  happened, 
upon  one  occasion,  as  Caraba  was  leaving  the  market 
to  return  home  that  the  King  and  his  daughter,  a 
most  beautiful  young  Princess,  were  passing  that  way 
in  their  open  carriage,  and  Caraba  was  so  struck 
with  the  beauty  of  the  young  lady  that  he  fell  in  love 
with  her,  and  looked  after  the  carriage  as  long  as  it 
was  in  sight,  and  then  turned  and  thoughtfully  went 
on  his  way  to  the  mill,  reflecting  to  himself  that  how- 
ever much  he  mieht  love  the  Princess  and  desire  to 
have  her  for  a  bride,  the  difference  of  their  positions 
in  life  made  it  impossible  that  he  could  ever  marry 


Puss  in  Boots  9 

her ;  and  so  he  went  to  his  humble  home  downcast 
and  sorrowful.  Tom  Puss,  as  usual,  came  out  to  meet 
his  master,  and  as  Caraba  approached  Tom  stopped 
and  looked  at  him  in  a  way  that  he  had  never  done 
before,  and  it  was  quite  evident  to  Puss  that  some- 
thing was  the  matter.  Caraba  put  the  ass  into  the 
stable  or  shed,  and  si'ave  it  a  feed  ;  he  then  o;ave  his 
elder  brother  the  money  he  had  sold  the  flour  for, 
and  then  went  and  set  himself  down  by  the  side  of 
the  door  and  looked  in  the  direction  of  the  Kincr's 
castle.  At  the  same  moment,  Puss  came  purring 
and  rubbing  his  side  against  his  master's  leg,  as  if  to 
attract  his  attention,  as  much  as  to  say,  "  Have  you 
forgotten  me,  Master?"  The  young  man  turned, 
and  heaving  a  deep  sigh,  said,  "  Ah  !  my  poor  Puss, 
I  went  out  this  morning  happy  and  comfortable ;  but 
happy  I  never  shall  be  again,  for  I  can  never  forget 
the  beautiful  Princess,  and  I  can  never  have  her  for 
a  wife."  As  he  said  this  Tom  Puss  stood  up  on  his 
hind  legs,  and  speaking  like  a  human  being,  said  : 
"  Do  not  be  too  sure  of  that."  Caraba  started  with 
wonder  to  hear  the  Cat  speak,  who,  however,  went  on 
to  say,  "  Dear  Master,  you  once  did  me  a  great  ser- 


lo  Puss  in  Boots 

vice,  you  saved  me  from  a  horrible  death ;  and  I 
have  always  been  grateful  to  you  for  that  act  :  but 
the  time  is  now  come  when  I  can  repay  this  kindness, 
and  all  I  require  of  you  is  to  do  whatever  I  tell  you, 
to  ask  no  questions,  and  leave  me  to  manage  matters 
in  my  own  way  ;  and  if  all  goes  well,  the  end  will  be 
happiness  to  you  and  to  many  others,  including  the 
dear,  the  good,  the  beautiful  Princess."  Caraba 
rubbed  his  eyes  to  make  sure  that  he  was  not  dream- 
ing, and  kept  looking  at  Puss  with  great  surprise, 
and  seemed  lost  in  thought,  from  which  he  was 
roused  by  Tom  Puss  exclaiming,  "  Now,  let 's  to  work. 
In  the  first  place,  Master,  I  must  have  a  dress  with 
a  cap  and  feather,  and  though  last,  not  least,  a  pair 
of  Boots ! " 

"  Where  am  I  to  get  these  things  ?  "  said  Caraba. 
"  Go  look  in  the  little  oak  box  in  the  lumber  cup- 
board under  the  mill,  where  I  sleep  and  you  will  find  all 
I  want."  Caraba  did  as  he  was  told,  and  sure  enough 
there  were  the  clothes  and  a  little  pair  of  boots  that 
fitted  Puss  like  a  pair  of  gloves. 

The  Cat,  with  the  assistance  of  his  master,  was  soon 
dressed.     "  And  now,"  said  Puss,  "  hand  me  that  lit- 


Puss  in  Boots  1 1 

tie  bag  that  hangs  up  there  behind  the  door,  and  give 
me  that  little  bit  of  a  stick  that  you  tickle  the  donkey's 
ribs  with  when  you  want  him  to  go  faster,  and  I  am 
off"  ;  and  going  to  the  door,  said,  "  Good-bye,  Master, 
say  nothing  to  nobody  about  this,  but  keep  your  spirits 
up  till  I  come  back." 

Caraba  was  lost  in  wonder,  as  he  saw  Puss  walking 
along  just  like  a  little  man,  and  wondered  what  he 
could  be  LToin^^  to  do  with  the  bail  ;  but  he  could  not 
form  a  guess.  So,  having  watched  Master  Tom  Puss 
out  of  sight,  and  having  duties  to  attend  to,  he  went 
to  iiis  work. 

Between  the  mill  and  the  Kinir's  castle  there  was  a 
wood,  and  one  part  of  it  was  so  thick  with  trees  and 
bushes  that  no  one  could  pass  through  it  ;  and  al- 
though the  woodmen  had  often  tried  to  clear  this  part, 
it  appears  they  found  that  what  they  cut  down  in  the 
day-time,  always  grew  up  again  in  the  night,  and  so 
they  gave  it  up  ;  but  Tom  found  his  way  through 
this  thicket,  and  not  only  that,  but  also  found  some 
rabbits  inside.  Yes,  there  was  a  large  rabbit-warren 
in  the  centre,  with  thousands  of  "bunnies"  playing 
about   in  all  directions.      Puss  crept  in  very  gently, 


12  Puss  in  Boots 

placed  the  bag  on  the  ground,  propped  the  mouth  of 
it  open  with  a  bit  of  stick,  to  which  was  tied  a  string, 
and  having  put  some  nice  cabbage  leaves  at  the  end, 
thus  made  a  sort  of  trap  of  it ;  then  lying  down  upon 
the  ground  with  the  end  of  the  string  in  his  paw, 
watched  to  see  if  any  of  the  rabbits  would  be  tempted 
to  go  into  the  bag  after  the  cabbage  leaves,  which  one 
soon  did.  Tom  pulled  the  string :  down  came  the 
stick,  and  Puss  had  thus,  as  the  sportsmen  say, 
"  bagged  "  a  fine  rabbit !  And  having  trapped  another 
one,  Puss  came  out  of  the  warren,  not  to  take  the 
rabbits  to  his  master ;  no,  Tom  Puss  not  only  knew 
his  way  through  the  thicket,  and  that  there  was  a  rab- 
bit-warren inside  of  it,  but  he  also  knew  that  the  King 
was  extremely  fond  of  that  sort  of  food,  and  although 
always  wanting  it,  could  never  get  any,  for  not  one  of 
those  little  creatures  had  been  seen  in  his  kingdom 
for  many  years.  It  was  found  out  afterwards  that  a 
wicked  Ogre,  who  was  a  sorcerer,  had  shut  in  all  the 
rabbits  in  this  warren,  out  of  spite  to  the  King,  be- 
cause he  was  a  very  good  man,  and  because  no  one 
should  have  any  rabbits  but  himself. 

Puss  set  off  with  a  sort  of  a  "  hop,  skip,  and  a  jump," 


TOM-Jyi  /^tMi^  Ajj^jjlt  fr  <^  7C^  -   »l^  Sjy^  PJ^^ 


i3 


Puss  in  Boots  1 5 

to  the  castle,  or  King's  palace,  and  astonished  the 
guard  at  the  gate  by  telling  them  that  he  had  brought 
a  message  with  a  present  to  the  King,  and  wished  to 
see  his  Majesty.  The  chamberlain  was  informed  of 
this,  who  lead  Tom  into  the  presence  of  the  King  and 
his  daughter.  Tom  Puss  made  a  very  graceful  bow 
to  the  Papa  and  daughter,  and  said  that  his  master, 
the  "Marquis  of  Carabas,"  having  heard  that  his 
Majesty  was  very  fond  of  rabbits,  had  taken  the  liberty 
of  sending  a  brace  to  his  Majesty,  which  he  hoped  his 
Majesty  would  accept ;  and  as  there  were  a  great 
number  on  his  estate,  he  would  send  a  supply  daily,  if 
his  Majesty  would  allow  him  to  do  so.  The  King  was 
not  only  very  greatly  surprised  to  see  such  an  extra- 
ordinary-looking game-keeper  (as  Puss  said  he  was), 
but  also  most  highly  delighted  at  the  prospect  of  get- 
ting a  supply  of  his  favourite  food  again,  told  Tom  to 
convey  his  best  thanks  to  his  master,  and  that  he 
would  accept  his  present  and  his  kind  offer  of  a  further 
supply.  The  King  then  asked  Puss  where  his  mas- 
ter's estate  was.  Tom  pointed  out  the  direction 
where  the  Marquis  of  Carabas's  castle  was  situated. 
"  Why,"  said  the  King,  "that  castle  seems  to  have 


1 6  Puss  in  Boots 

been  shut  up  for  many  years."  "Yes,"  replied  Tom, 
"  it  has  so,  for  the  family  have  been  kept  out  of  their 
estate.  For  a  long  time  it  has  been  in  Chancery, 
your  Majesty ;  but  I  expect  that  the  Marquis  will  be 
in  possession  of  his  castle  to-morrow."  "  Oh,  indeed," 
said  the  King ;  "  then  I  '11  take  my  morning  ride  that 
way,  and  perhaps  I  may  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing 
the  Marquis."  "  I  am  not  quite  sure,"  said  Tom, 
"  that  the  Marquis  will  be  there  to-morrow,  but  if  I 
see  him  to-day,  I  will  inform  him  of  your  Majesty's 
intention."  The  King  then  waved  his  hand,  as  much 
as  to  say  you  may  retire  ;  and  Tom  Puss  stepped 
backwards  from  the  presence  of  his  Majesty  :  in  doing 
which  he  nearly  fell  backwards,  having  trodden  upon 
his  tail. 

Upon  leaving  the  castle,  Tom  made  the  best  of 
his  way  back  to  the  mill,  where,  seated  at  the  entrance, 
was  his  master  waiting  Tom's  return.  Puss  was  soon 
at  his  side,  and  informed  him  where  he  had  been  and 
what  he  had  been  doing,  and  that  he  had  seen  the 
beautiful  Princess,  and  how  pleased  she  was  that  her 
father  had  got  such  nice  rabbits  for  his  dinner,  and 
seemed  delighted  at  the  idea  of  seeing  the  young 


Puss  in  Boots  17 

gentleman  who  had  sent  them,  and  to  thank  him  for 
his  kindness. 

Caraba  was  much  pleased  and  excited  when  he 
heard  all  this,  and  still  more  so  when  Puss  told  him 
that  he  must  prepare  to  see  the  King  and  the  Princess 
the  following  morning,  and  for  this  end  he  should  re- 
quire his  master  to  go  with  him  to  a  particular  spot 
at  a  certain  hour. 

Caraba  had  been  cautioned  not  to  ask  any  ques- 
tions, and  therefore,  like  a  sensible  man,  refrained 
from  doing  so. 

On  the  followinor  morninof  Caraba  and  Tom  were 
seated  by  the  side  of  a  small  river  close  to  the  high- 
road. It  was  a  fine  summer's  morning,  or  forenoon, 
and  Tom  told  his  master  to  strip  and  have  a  bathe, 
which  order  he  obeyed,  and,  accordingly,  put  his 
clothes  on  the  bank  and  jumped  into  the  water. 
Now  Caraba's  father,  the  old  Miller,  was  one  of  those 
persons  who  thought  that  all  girls  and  boys  should 
be  taught  to  swim,  and  so  Caraba  was  a  good  swim- 
mer, as  were  also  his  two  brothers.  Whilst  Caraba 
was  enjoying  his  bath  Tom  pulled  off  his  boots  and 
climbed  up  a  tree  that  grew  by  the  side  of  the  stream  ; 


1 8  Puss  in  Boots 

and  after  remainino-  there  a  short  time  came  down 
quickly,  got  hold  of  his  master's  clothes,  and  rolled 
them  up  with  a  large  heavy  stone,  tied  up  the  bundle 
with  a  piece  of  cord,  and  threw  them  into  a  deep  part 
of  the  river,  and  cried  out  to  his  master  that  the 
King's  coach  was  coming  that  way.  His  master  swam 
to  the  side  and  looking  about  said,  "  Where  are  my 
clothes  ?  "  "  Oh,  Master,  never  mind  your  old  clothes, 
they  are  in  the  bottom  of  the  river,  but  I  '11  take  care 
that  you  shall  have  a  new  suit.  Caraba  did  not  much 
like  the  idea  of  being  up  to  his  neck  in  the  water 
when  the  Princess  was  coming  there,  but  being 
obliged  to  submit,  remained  quiet.  In  a  few  minutes 
the  "  running  footmen  "  came  running  on  before  the 
King's  carriage.  (In  those  ddiys  footme7i  with  long 
staffs  or  spears  in  their  hands  always  ran  before  the 
horses  of  the  carriages.)  Puss  stopped  these  men 
and  told  them  that  whilst  his  master,  the  Marquis  of 
Carabas,  was  bathing  in  the  river  some  one  had  taken 
away  his  clothes,  and  that  he  wished  to  tell  the  King 
of  it.  The  footmen  told  this  to  the  guards,  the  King 
was  informed  of  it,  and  the  carriage  stopped.  Puss 
then  came  forward  and  told  his  Majesty  that  a  most 


Tow Pujs  CtVln^  At,  Kin^  ttuiC  fUA  fcajtfy  -^  At,fli%rtfucSt,f.Cfefal)di,  it  in-lkcKurtr 


19 


Puss  in  Boots  2 1 

extraordinary  thing  had  happened,  which  was,  that 
whilst  his  master  was  bathing,  some  sly  thief  had 
taken  away  his  clothes,  and  that  he  was  now  close  by 
in  the  river,  and  could  not,  of  course,  present  himself 
to  his  Majesty  until  he  had  got  another  suit  of  clothes. 
"  Well,"  said  the  King,  "  it  is  an  extraordinary  circum- 
stance, and  what  is  very  curious  and  most  fortunate  : 
I  have  brought  several  new  suits  of  clothes  with  me 
intending  to  present  a  suit  to  the  Marquis  in  return 
for  his  very  nice  presents  of  the  rabbits,"  The  King 
then  ordered  his  servants  to  get  the  box  of  clothes 
out  of  the  "  boot  "  of  the  carriage,  and  then  ordered 
the  coachman  so  drive  about  for  a  short  time  so  as  to 
give  the  Marquis  an  opportunity  of  dressing  himself, 
which  he  was  not  long  in  doing,  after  the  carriage 
left.  (Tom  had  taken  care  to  provide  towels  for  his 
master.) 

The  Marquis — for  so  we  may  call  him  as  far  as  ap- 
pearances went,  for  when  dressed  in  one  of  these 
Court  dresses,  he  looked  very  handsome,  and  had  all 
the  appearance  of  a  noble  prince — when  the  carriage 
returned,  Puss,  acting  the  part  of  a  chamberlain,  in- 
troduced his  master  to  the  King  and  the  Princess,  who 


9  ">. 


Puss  in  Roots 


seemed  pleased  to  make  his  acquaintance,  and  the 
King  invited  him  into  the  carriage  and  introduced  him 
to  his  daughter,  who  smiled  most  graciously,  and  also 
seemed  much  pleased.  But  if  the  King  and  the  Prin- 
cess were  pleased  with  the  appearance  of  Caraba, 
they  were  still  more  pleased,  nay,  delighted,  by  his 
manner  and  his  sensible  and  manly  observations 
about  the  weather,  the  state  of  the  crops,  and  so  on. 
The  King  adverted  to  the  extraordinary  circumstance 
of  the  Marquis  having  a  Tom  cat  for  a  gamekeeper. 
Caraba  admitted  that  it  was  so,  but  said  that  he 
had  found  him  to  be  a  faithful  and  most  invaluable 
servant. 

Tom  Puss  had  set  off  in  the  direction  of  the  Ogre's 
castle  before  the  carriage  begun  to  move,  so  that  he 
got  some  distance  in  advance  of  the  Royal  cavalcade, 
and,  as  he  passed  through  the  corn-fields  where  the 
reapers  were  at  work,  he  told  them  that  something 
was  going  to  happen  that  day  for  their  good,  but  to 
insure  the  good,  they  must  do  as  he  bid  them.  He 
then  told  them  that  the  King  was  coming  that  way, 
and  that  if  he  asked  them  whom  all  these  lands  be- 
longed to,  they  must  all  say,  to  the  Marquis  of  Cara- 


Jamx.  Pith  Ctnvujd*  ^Heifurs  A  ted4M.'f(uil^-0-^ 


^^'^-^... 


•3 


Puss  In  Boots  25 

bas.  Having  arranged  all  this,  on  he  went  to  the 
castle  where  the  Ogre  already  spoken  of,  resided,  and 
who  held  all  these  lands,  and  was  a  hard  taskmaster 
over  all  these  peasants,  who  may  be  said  to  have  been 
his  slaves,  for  they  had  no  power  to  resist  his  orders 
in  whatever  he  told  them  to  do  ;  and  they  very  readily 
obeyed  Tom  Puss,  for  they  thought  it  was  by  their 
master's  orders  that  they  were  to  say  what  he  told 
them.  Accordingly,  when  the  King  came  amongst 
the  reapers,  field  after  field,  all  along  on  each  side  of 
the  road,  and  asked  them,  "Whom  do  these  fields 
belong  to?"  and  was  answered,  "  To  the  most  noble, 
the  Marquis  of  Carabas,  please  your  Majesty,"  he 
seemed  more  than  pleased,  and  congratulated  the 
Marquis  upon  having  such  a  large  and  fine  estate, 
and  the  Princess  also  expressed  herself  quite  delighted 
with  the  beautiful  prospect  and  charming  scenery. 
The  Marquis  assented  to  these  observations,  and 
said  that  doubtless  the  estate  was  valuable,  and  the 
prospect  charming,  but  for  himself,  his  happiness 
would  mainly  be,  by  being  allowed  the  honour  and 
the  pleasure  of  associating  with  his  Majesty  and  his 
Royal  daughter.     The  King  smiled  and  bowed,  and 


26  Puss  in  Boots 

seemed  struck  with  an  idea.  The  Princess  also  smiled 
and  bowed,  as  a  slight  blush  came  over  her  beautiful 
face  ;  but  the  conversation  was  here  brought  to  a 
close,  for  they  had  arrived  at  the  outer  gate  of  the 
Ogre's  castle,  at  which  Tom  Puss  had  arrived  some 
time  before  ;  and  having  found  his  way  to  the  room  in 
which  the  Ogre  was  sitting,  apologised  for  intrud- 
ing ;  but  having  heard  that  he  possessed  the  wonder- 
ful power  of  changing  himself  into  any  animal,  and 
that  being  a  thing  which  it  was  almost  impossible  to 
believe,  he  had  taken  the  liberty  of  calling,  in  the 
hope  that  his  Honour  would  kindly  let  him  see  some 
of  these  wonderful  changes,  in  order  that  seei7ig  might 
be  believinor.  The  Oofre,  who  was,  as  before  stated, 
a  magician,  or  sorcerer,  and  a  very  artful,  wicked 
man,  immediately  consented  to  oblige  his  visitor,  hav- 
ing an  object  in  doing  so.  It  appears  that  if  the 
Ogre  did  change  himself  into  the  form  of  some 
animal,  he  was  obliged  to  do  so  three  times,  and  that 
if  anyone  asked  him  to  change  into  any  particular 
animal  the  third  time,  he  was  compelled  to  comply 
with  the  request,  before  he  could  exercise  his  wicked 
art  against  anyone  who  might  have  come  into,  or  that 


97 


Puss  in  Boots  29 

he  had  trapped  into  his  power.  Tom  Puss  was  aware  of 
this,  and  acted  accordingly.  "  Now,"  said  Tom,  "  let 
me  see  you  change  into  some  large  animal."  "  I'll 
change  into  an  elephant,"  said  the  Ogre,  and  instantly 
he  appeared  to  be  enveloped  in  a  cloud  of  thick 
smoke,  out  of  which  arose  what  appeared  to  be  a 
large  elephant.  Puss  started  with  surprise  and  alarm, 
and  begged  that  he  would  assume  the  shape  of  a 
smaller  animal  ;  then  came  the  cloud  of  smoke  again, 
in  the  midst  of  which  his  disagreeable  voice  was  heard, 
"  I  '11  change  myself  into  a  lion,"  and,  at  the  same  in- 
stant, there  stood  the  fierce  "king  of  the  forest." 
"Oh!"  said  Puss,  "you  frighten  me  so;  take  the 
form  of  something  smaller  ;  take  the  form  of  a 
mouse."  Aorain  came  the  cloud  of  smoke,  in  the 
midst  of  which  was  heard  a  voice  like  the  growl  of  a 
lion,  "  I  '11  change  into  the  form  of  a  mouse,"  and,  "  in 
the  twinkling  of  an  eye,"  a  mouse  was  seen  running 
across  th(^  Hoor  as  if  to  hide  itself  under  the  table 
(upon  which  hung  a  cloth  that  came  down  to  the 
ground)  ;  but  quick  as  Mr.  Ogre  Mouse  might  be, 
Tom  Puss  was  too  quick  for  him,  for  Tom  sprang 
upon  the  wicked  creature  like  a  Hash  of   lightning, 


30  Puss  in  Boots 


and  killed  him  before  he  had  time  to  change  himself,  as 
he  intended  to  do,  into  a  great  dog,  and  then  worry 
poor  Tom  Puss  to  death.  But  Tom  had  won  the 
victory  !  and  had  put  an  end  to  a  horrible  and  wicked 
man  ;  and  not  liking  to  venture  upon  making  a  meal 
of  such  stuff  as  this  mock  mouse  was  made  of,  jumped 
up  to  the  window  with  the  dead  mouse  in  his  mouth, 
and  dropped  it  into  the  castle  moat,  or  piece  of  water 
that  was  under  the  window. 

An  end  had  no  sooner  been  put  to  the  art  and  the 
life  of  the  Ogre  sorcerer,  than  a  great  change  seemed 
to  take  place  all  over  the  castle  ;  from  its  being  a 
dark  dingy  place  when  Tom  entered,  it  now  seemed 
to  be  light  and  cheerful  ;  and  instead  of  the  old  ugly- 
looking  cripples  of  servants  who  were  creeping  about 
the  hall,  and  half-starved  looking  hounds  and  cats, 
and  bats  and  ravens,  there  were  beautiful  birds 
singing  sweetly,  the  animals  all  well-fed,  and  the 
servants  of  all  ages  healthy,  cheerful,  and  happy  ; 
and  there  was  a  delicious  savoury  odour  as  if  some 
very  nice  food  was  being  prepared  for  a  lunch  or  din- 
ner. Tom  hastened  to  the  entrance,  calling  out  as 
he  went  along,   "  Look  sharp,  my  friends,  the  King 


Puss  in  Boots  31 

and  the  Princess  and  the  Marquis  are  at  the  gate," 
and  as  Tom  Puss  took  his  stand  at  the  entrance  of 
the  hall,  his  Majesty  approached,  to  whom  Tom, 
making  a  profound  bow,  said,  "Welcome,  your 
Majesty,  to  the  Castle  of  Carabas."  The  King  en- 
tered, followed  by  the  Marquis  and  the  Princess,  who 
both  now  seemed  to  be  upon  the  most  friendly  terms. 
The  King  was  attended  and  waited  upon  by  a  num- 
ber of  the  men-servants  of  the  castle,  and  the  Princess 
by  maids  in  waiting  ;  and  Tom,  taking  his  master 
aside,  said,  "  No  doubt,  Master,  you  are  surprised  at 
all  this,  and  therefore,  just  to  make  your  niind  easy 
for  the  present,  I  will  tell  you  that  you  are  now  in 
the  castle  of  your  ancestors,  and  that  you  are  the 
rightful  owner  of  this  estate  ;  for,  according  to  the  laws 
of  this  kingdom,  you,  being  the  youngest  son,  inherit 
the  title  and  estate.  I  will  give  you  the  full  particu- 
lars at  another  time."  Tom  Puss  then  showed  him 
into  the  grand  dining-hall,  where  a  dinner-table  was 
laid  out  for  three,  and  he  told  his  master  to  ask  the 
King  and  the  Princess  to  stop  to  dinner.  The  Mar- 
quis was  delighted  with  what  he  had  heard  ;  but  as  he 
had  been  told  not  to  ask  any  questions,  did  not  ;  and, 


32  Puss  in  Boots 

what  is  more,  was  so  perfectly  satisfied  with  what  had 
been  done,  in  every  way,  that  he  did  not  want  to  ask 
any  questions,  so  he  invited  his  Majesty  to  do  him 
the  honour  and  the  pleasure  of  dining  with  him  ;  and 
as  he  said  this  he  led  him  into  the  dining-room.  The 
Kinor  seemed  at  first  to  hesitate  ;  but  when  he  smelt 
the  savoury  fumes  that  rose  from  the  table,  and  saw 
"stewed  rabbit,"  "rabbit  pie,"  "roast  rabbit,"  and 
rabbits  cooked  in  every  nice  and  possible  way  upon 
the  table,  he  hesitated  no  longer,  but  accepted  the 
invitation,  ordered  one  of  the  horsemen  to  go  back 
to  the  palace  to  say  that  he  should  not  return  to 
dinner,  told  Caraba  to  fetch  the  Princess  from  the 
drawing-room,  sat  down,  and  seemed  to  enjoy  his 
meal  exceedingly. 

After  the  dinner  the  Princess  retired  to  the  "  with- 
drawing-room."  His  Majesty  had  a  conversation 
with  the  Marquis  of  Carabas  upon  various  mat- 
ters, and  before  rising  to  go  away,  said  :  "  Marquis, 
I  am  very  desirous  to  have  my  daughter  married, 
and  from  what  I  have  seen  of  you,  I  think  you  are 
the  man  that  would  suit  in  every  respect  ;  and  as 
I  suspect,  from  what  I  have  observed,  that  you  are 


Puss  in  Boots  33 

both  very  likely  to  become  attached  to  each  other, 
upon  being  better  acquainted,  I  therefore  invite  you 
to  come  to  my  castle  on  a  visit  for  a  week."  The 
Marquis  Carabas  was  quite  overcome  by  the  King's 
kindness,  and  expressed  a  hope  that  his  good  conduct 
would  make  him  acceptable  to  the  lady,  and  worthy 
of  his  Majesty's  confidence.  The  carriage  was  then 
ordered,  and  the  King,  the  Princess,  and  the  Marquis 
Carabas  got  into  it,  to  return  to  the  palace.  When 
they  came  to  the  outer  gate,  all  the  country  people 
were  assembled  and  gave  them  most  hearty  cheers 
as  they  passed  along.  The  Royal  cavalcade  was  fol- 
lowed by  Tom  Puss  mounted  on  a  horse,  and  leading 
another  very  fine  horse  for  his  master,  who,  in  the 
midst  of  all  these  extraordinary  events,  and  animated 
with  feelings  of  pleasure  and  delight,  did  not  forget 
his  dear  father  and  mother  and  his  dear  brothers,  and 
had  arranged  with  Tom  Puss  that  so  soon  as  he  had 
seen  his  Majesty  and  the  Princess  to  the  palace 
he  would  mount  his  steed  and  ride  to  their  humble 
home  to  tell  them  what  had  happened,  and  make,  if 
possible,  their  hearts  as  cheerful  and  as  happy  as 
his  own. 


34  Puss  in  Boots 

The  father,  and  mother,  and  the  brothers  of 
Caraba  were  highly  deUghted  at  the  good  news 
which  he  brought  them,  as  well  as  very  pleased  to 
see  him  in  his  grand  court-dress.  Araba  and  Baraba 
were  more  than  astonished  at  the  appearance  of 
Tom  Puss  in  Boots,  and  in  a  regular  dress  just  like 
a  little  man.  The  father  and  mother  did  not  appear 
so  much  surprised,  but  were  very  kind  to  him,  and 
the  old  Miller  said  that,  with  respect  to  his  extraordi- 
nary appearance  and  most  praiseworthy  and  valuable 
assistance,  there  was  a  mystery  which,  no  doubt,  Tom 
Puss  would  explain  at  a  fitting  opportunity. 

It  being  decided  by  the  family,  that  the  mill  and 
cottage  should  be  given  to  a  distant  and  poor  rela- 
tion, and  all  the  necessary  matters  being  arranged 
for  the  father,  mother,  and  brothers  to  go  to  the 
Castle  of  Carabas  on  the  following  day,  the  Marquis 
and  Puss  returned  to  the  King's  palace,  where  the  Mar- 
quis was  received  by  the  King  and  the  Princess  in  the 
most  kind  and  friendly  manner,  and  the  time  passed 
away  most  pleasantly  : — in  the  morning,  riding  out 
with  the  Princess  on  horseback,  dining  most  sumpt- 
uously every  day  at  noon  (upon  which  occasion  Tom 


Puss  in  Boots  35 

Puss  always  took  care  to  have  a  plentiful  supply  of 
rabbits),  and  then,  after  dinner,  chatting,  and  amus- 
ing the  King,  and  in  the  evening  walking  in  the 
beautiful  gardens  of  the  palace  with  the  beautiful 
Princess  ;  and  by  the  third  day  the  Princess  consented 
to  become  the  bride  of  the  Marquis,  provided  her 
consent  met  with  the  approbation  of  her  papa,  which, 
of  course,  it  did,  and  the  day  was  fixed  for  the  wed- 
ding, for  which  important  and  interesting  occasion 
great  preparations  were  immediately  set  on  foot. 

The  fact  of  there  beino-  such  a  thine  as  a  cat 
dressed  up,  and  walking  about  in  a  pair  of  boots, 
having  got  abroad  in  the  town,  a  great  many  persons 
came  about  the  palace  and  into  the  park  in  the  hope 
of  getting  a  peep  at  Tom  Puss  ;  but  he  kept  himself 
as  much  out  of  sight  as  possible,  and  the  King's  ser- 
vants, and  even  the  soldiers,  seemed  almost  afraid  of 
him,  and  the  cats  about  the  palace  (and  there  were  a 
good  many  of  them)  seemed  to  treat  him  with  great 
respect.  The  cats  held  meetings  at  night  upon  tin; 
lawn  to  talk  about  Master  Tom  and  his  Boots,  and 
at  last  they  made  such  a  noise  that  it  quite  annoyed 
the  good  folks  in   the  castle.      Tom   Puss  observed 


^6  Puss  in  Boots 

this,  so  he  went  out  one  niorht  amonofst  them,  grave 
them  a  good  talking  to,  and  they  were  very  quiet  after 
this,  and  very  shy  of  him. 

The  wedding  day  arrived  and  the  whole  kingdom 
was  in  a  bustle.  Even  in  the  distant  and  remote 
parts  the  rejoicings,  the  feastings,  and  the  sports 
were  carried  on  throughout  the  day — morning,  noon, 
and  night.  The  principal  town,  near  the  Royal  castle, 
was  a  constant  scene  of  gayety.  Drums,  trumpets, 
and  all  sorts  of  musical  instruments  were  beino- 
played  in  every  direction,  and  the  bells  ringing  their 
merry  peals.  In  the  Royal  castle,  it  was  one  scene 
of  happiness  and  delight,  everyone  dressed  in  his 
best,  with  a  cheerful  smile  upon  his  face.  The  halls 
the  stairs,  and  all  the  chambers,  were  decorated  with 
flowers,  flags,  shields,  etc.  ;  and  in  the  midst  of  all 
this,  Tom  Puss  was  seen  struttino-  about  in  a  bran- 
new  pair  of  boots,  acting  as  an  assistant  master  of 
ceremonies. 

All  the  great  people  of  the  country  were  invited  to 
the  wedding  and  to  the  wedding  dinner,  and  a  grand 
set-out  this  "  weddincr-dinner"  was,  and  the  cooks  did 
their  best  to  make  it  one  of  tht  best  dinners  ever 


Puss  in  Boots  T^^ 

given  in  that  country  ;  and  amongst  the  abundance 
of  everything  that  was  good,  Tom  had  taken  care  to 
have  a  plentiful  supply  of  rabbits,  cooked  in  every 
possible  way  ;  and  curiously  enough  Tom  Puss  had 
discovered  that  a  French  cook  of  great  talent  had 
come  over  to  that  part  of  the  country  to  visit  a  rela- 
tion, and  Tom  induced  Monsieur  le  Chef  to  assist  in 
making  some  of  the  dishes  and  ornaments  for  the 
table.  One  of  these  dishes  was  an  immense  rabbit- 
pie,  so  made  as  to  resemble  a  "rabbit-warren,"  with 
models  of  little  rabbits  peeping  out  of  the  holes  in 
the  crust,  and  little  rabbits  round  the  edge,  and  also 
on  the  top  of  the  pie.  To  give  an  idea  of  the  size  of 
this  rabbit-pie,  the  cooks  had  to  go  to  the  potteries 
to  get  a  dish  made  on  purpose,  and  when  the  pie 
was  made  it  was  so  large,  and  so  heavy,  that  it 
took  six  strong  men  to  carry  it  and  place  it  on 
the  table. 

The  marriage  ceremony  took  place  in  the  Royal 
chapel  (and  a  grand  affair  it  was),  and  the  dinner 
hour  having  arrived,  the  King,  the  Princess  and  her 
husband  the  Marquis,  were  ushered  into  the  great 
hall  by  the  sound  of  trumpets.      There  were  three 


38  Puss  in  Boots 

chairs  placed  in  the  centre  of  the  cross  table  on  the 
"  dais,"  as  the  raised  platform  is  called,  at  the  upper 
end  of  all  the  grand  halls.  The  King  took  the  right- 
hand  seat,  placing  the  Princess  in  the  centre  chair,  not 
only  to  do  her  honour,  but  also  that  her  husband 
might  sit  by  her  side.  Caraba's  brothers  were  placed 
at  this  table,  one  on  each  side  the  centre.  Their 
father  and  mother  were  placed  at  the  other  end  of 
the  hall,  in  order  that  they  might  preside  at  the  end 
of  the  centre  table. 

The  dinner  passed  off  merrily,  everyone  seeming 
to  enjoy  it  exceedingly.  The  great  rabbit-pie  gave 
great  satisfaction,  his  Majesty  being  helped  to  it  a 
second  time.  As  soon  as  the  dessert  was  placed  upon 
the  table,  the  Marquis  rose  and  said :  "  May  it  please 
your  Majesty,  the  circumstances  which  have  placed 
me  in  my  present  high  and  happy  position  are  so  ex- 
traordinary, and  the  extraordinary  changes  have  been 
brought  about  by  such  an  extraordinary  agent,  and  in 
such  an  apparently  unaccountable  manner,  that  to 
satisfy  the  very  great  but  very  natural  curiosity — I 
may  say  of  everyone — I  have  to  beg  that  your  Ma- 
jesty will  allow  Tom  Puss  to  explain,  as  he  wishes  to 


T[;rWea..il.n{  ftdit   —d-nJ.    Tb/Jt /aji  ^.U<i(<  A^/iee^A.  ,'_ 


39 


Puss  in  Boots  41 

do,  the  mystery,  and  to  account  for  the  way  in  which 
all  these  things  have  come  to  pass." 

There  was  a  loud  and  general  applause  when  his 
Majesty  bowed  assent  to  this  request  ;  and  Tom  Puss, 
who  had  sat  by  the  side  of  his  master's  chair  all  the 
dinner-time,  immediately  jumped  upon  the  table  with 
his  little  staff  in  his  paw  (for  he  seemed  to  require 
some  little  help  when  standing  upright),  and  first 
bowing  to  the  King,  then  to  the  Princess  and  his 
master,  and  speaking  in  a  loud  voice,  said  : 

"  May  it  please  your  Majesty, — Strange  as  it  may 
appear,  I  was  once  a  man,  and  was  head  game-keeper 
to  the  grandfather  of  the  present  Marquis  of  Carabas. 
I  had  a  kind  and  good  master  and  mistress  ;  but  I  am 
sorry  to  say  that  I  was  dissatisfied,  and  used  to  repine 
at  my  lot,  envying  others,  and  thinking  that  I  de- 
served a  better  fate.  One  night,  as  I  sat  before  the 
fire,  looking  at  the  cat  who  sat  comfortably  in  the 
corner  of  the  fireplace,  I  said  to  myself,  '  Why,  I 
would  rather  be  that  cat  than  what  I  am,'  when  im- 
mediately I  felt  a  change  come  over  me — a  strange 
feeling — and  in  an  instant  I  found  myself  changed  to 
what  I   am  now,    and  seated  in   the  chimney-corner 


42  Puss  in  Boots 

where  the  cat  had  been,  but  with  the  sense  and  feel- 
ing of  a  man.  I  was  struck  with  shame  and  sorrow 
for  the  ingratitude  and  for  my  unnatural  wish  ;  and 
the  only  hope  I  had  was,  that  some  day  I  might, 
even  as  a  cat,  do  some  good  deed,  or  render  some 
great  service  to  my  master  or  his  family  that  might 
break  the  spell,  and  restore  me  to  my  proper  self. 
Soon  after  this  had  happened,  a  wicked  Ogre  sor- 
cerer came  on  the  Caraba  estate,  and  with  his  dia* 
boHcal  art  drove  my  master  and  his  family  out  of  the 
castle,  and  placed  the  whole  estate  in  Chancery.* 
My  master  (the  old  Marquis)  went  with  his  family 
and  resided  at  the  mill,  where  the  present  Marquis's 
father  carried  on,  with  the  assistance  of  his  three 
sons,  the  trade  of  a  miller  ;  and  although  the  mill, 
being  on  high  ground,  was  in  a  high  position,  it  may 
be  thought  that  the  trade  of  a  miller  was  not  so  ;  but 
let  me  observe  that  if  any  one  in  trade  is  not  con- 
sidered in  a  high  position  in  society,  he  must,  never- 
theless, be  highly  respectable,  if  useful  and  honest. 
"  The  Ogre  held  out  such  threats  against  the  health 

*  A  law-court,  in  which,  in  those  early  times,  they  took  perhaps  ten  years  to 
do  as  much  as  they  do  now  in  ten  days. 


Puss  in  Boots  43 

and  life  of  my  master  and  his  family  if  he  interfered 
or  went  to  the  king  about  the  lawsuit,  that  my  mas- 
ter, and  his  son  afterwards,  thought  it  best  for  all 
tlieir  sakes  to  remain  quiet,  and  be  content  with 
their  humble  cot  and  mode  of  life. 

"  Well  had  it  been  for  me  had  I  been  content  with 
my  position  ;  but,  finding  that  I  had  the  shape  of  a 
common  animal,  I  became  desperate,  took  to  the 
woods,  and  became  'a  wild  cat'  until  one  day  being 
out  of  the  wood,  and  in  the  open  fields,  a  savage  dog 
attacked  me.  No  tree  being  near  up  which  I  could 
climb,  I  ran  towards  the  wind-mill  for  protection. 
My  old  master's  grandson,  Caraba,  was  at  the  door, 
drove  away  the  dog  and  saved  my  life.  I  had  always 
from  the  first,  a  belief  that  some  charm  some  day 
would  restore  me  to  my  natural  state,  and  my  master's 
family  to  their  estate.  The  chai'ms  of  the  charming 
Princess  charmed  my  present  master;  his  being 
charmed  by  such  innocence  and  beauty  seemed  to 
break  the  charm  or  spell  that  kept  me  tongue-tied  for 
so  many  years ;  and  my  speech  being  restored,  with 
my  knowledge  of  all  the  facts  and  circumstances,  has 
enabled  me  to  rid  tlu!  land  of  a  wicked  Ogre,  to  open 


44  Puss  in  Boots 

the  rabbit-warren  to  the  countr)%  and  giving  to  his 
Majesty  his  favourite  food  again,  and  being  the  means, 
I  trust,  of  rendering  happy  for  life  the  noble  Marquis 
and  his  Royal  bride  ;  and  I  am  not  without  a  hope  that, 
at  no  very  distant  time,  I  may  be  restored  to  what  I 
was  ;  and,  if  so,  I  shall  certainly  be  not  a  sadder^  but 
most  assuredly  a  wiser  man." 

Whilst  Tom  Puss  was  making  this  explanatory 
,  speech,  or  telling  this  extraordinary  tale,  the  Marquis 
and  his  lovely  bride  and  the  King,  and  indeed  the 
whole  of  the  company,  were  deeply  effected,  even  to 
tears  ;  and  when  he  had  done  speaking  and  made  his 
bow,  and  was  leaning  on  the  elbow  of  his  master's 
chair,  there  was  a  solemn  silence  for  more  than  a  min- 
ute, when  one  of  the  company,  a  rather  queer  sort 
of  fellow  (who,  although  his  legs  were  remarkably 
straight,  was  called  Crooked  Shanks)  broke  the 
silence  by  jumping  on  the  table  and  crying  out,  with 
a  tremendously  loud  voice:  "Three  cheers  for  the 
King  !  Hip,  hip,  hip,  hurrah  !  "  This  was  responded 
to  with  thunders  of  cheers  and  applause  ;  then  he 
gave  three  cheers  for  the  bride  and  bride-groom — re- 
sponded to  with  uproarious  cheers  ;  and  then  he  pro- 


Puss  in  Boots  45 

posed  three  cheers  for  Tom  Puss,  which  was  also 
responded  to  with  hearty  good  will.  The  King  then 
ordered  the  band  to  strike  up  a  merry  tune,  whidi 
they  did,  whilst  the  company  ate  up  all  the  apples 
and  pears,  nuts,  and  sugar  plums. 

In  the  evening  the  whole  of  the  company,  includ- 
ing the  King,  danced  upon  the  green,  and  towards 
the  close  of  the  evening,  Tom  Puss  was  seen  dancing, 
and  people  exclaimed,  "  Well,  I  've  seen  dancing  dogs, 
but  I  never  before  saw  a  dancing  cat "  ;  but  it  could 
hardly  be  called  dancing,  it  was  merely  turning  or 
whirling  round  and  round  ;  and  it  is  supposed  that 
this  dance  of  Tom  Puss's  orave  the  first  idea  of  what 

o 

is  called  the  waltz.  However,  it  very  much  amused 
the  company,  and  Tom  whirled  about  until  he  whirled 
himself  into  a  bush  or  thicket  of  evergreens,  and  was 
thus  lost  sight  of,  and  nothing  more  was  seen  of  Tom 
Puss  that  night ;  but  on  the  following  day  a  very  re- 
spectable-looking man,  with  a  beard  rather  grey,  and 
dressed  exactly  in  the  same  fashion  as  Tom  Puss  had 
been,  and  with  boots  on,  was  seen  walking  on  the 
lawn  in  deep  conversation  with  the  Marquis,  who  sud- 
denly turned  and  said,  "  Give  me  your  hand  "  which 


46 


Puss  in  Boots 


he  shook  very  heartily,  and  then  said,  "  Come,  let  me 
introduce  you  to  the  King  and  the  Princess,"  and  in 
they  went  to  the  palace  ;  and  this  was  the  old  game- 
keeper, Thomas,  who  once  was 

PUSS  IN   BOOTS. 


The    History    of  Jack   and 
the  Bean-Stalk 


lAck.  cliitvbin^    Uj5^    tBfiAW.  SUOc^ 


49 


The    History    of   Jack  and 
the  Bean-Stalk 


"  N  the  reign  of  King  Alfred  the 
Great — so  called  because  he  was 
very  clever  and  very  good — there 
lived  a  poor  woman,  who  had  a 
son     and    a   daughter ;    the    little 


girl's  name  was  Ady,  and  the  boy's  name  was  Jack. 
Their  home  was  a  very  long  way  from  London,  in  a 
deep  valley,  surrounded  by  rocks  and  mountains,  as 
steep  as  the  side  of  a  house  and  as  high  as  the  clouds, 
so  that  nobody  could  get  to  the  top  of  them  ;  and 
the  only  way  into  this  valley  was  by  the  sea-shore  ; 
large  waterfalls  poured  down  the  sides  of  the  rocks, 
and  formed  a  river  which  ran  through  the  valley  into 
the  sea.  Their  dwelling  was  a  small  cottage  with 
a  nice  garden,  in  which  they  grew  vegetables  and 
flowers  ;  and  they  had  a  cow. 


52  Jack  and  the  Bean-Stalk 

The  poor  woman  worked  very  hard  in  spinning 
yarn  from  the  distaff,  and  so  did  her  little  daughter, 
who  was  a  very  pretty  girl  ;  and,  what  is  better  than 
being  pretty,  she  was  also  very  good,  and  helped  her 
mother  in  her  work,  and  tended  the  cow  and  the 
poultry — for  they  had  some  fowls  ;  and  also  she 
helped  her  in  gardening  and  in  keeping  the  hut  clean, 
which  was  always  as  bright  as  a  new  pin  ;  and, 
although  they  were  poor,  they  were  very  clean  and 
tidy  in  themselves.  It  is  not  poverty  which  makes 
people  dirty,  but  idleness  and  ignorance. 

Now  Jack  was  a  fine-looking  little  fellow,  and  had  a 
good  heart,  but  he  was  a  spoiled  boy.  His  mother  in- 
dulged him  to  a  fault,  and  the  consequence  was,  that 
Jack  did  not  pay  the  least  attention  to  anything  his 
mother  said  to  him,  and  was  indolent,  careless,  and 
extravagant.  His  naughtiness  was  not  owing  to  a 
bad  disposition,  but  because  his  mothernever  checked 
him  properly  when  he  did  wrong.  Spoiled  children 
may  look  very  pretty  in  their  parents'  eyes,  but  to 
other  people  they  look  very  ugly  when  naughty, 
however  handsome  they  may  be  when  they  are 
good- 


Jack  and  the  Bean-Stalk  53 

In  the  early  part  of  King  Alfred's  reign  the  country 
used  to  be  attacked  by  thieves,  called  pirates,  from 
Denmark  and  other  countries,  who  came  in  ships, 
landed  on  the  coast,  and  pillaged  the  towns  and  vil- 
lages, and  killed  all  the  inhabitants  they  could  get 
hold  of.  The  only  village  in  this  valley  where  Jack 
lived  was  by  the  sea-side,  inhabited  mostly  by  fisher- 
men ;  and  although  the  little  town  was  almost  hidden 
amongst  the  rocks,  yet  the  pirates  found  it  out  and 
attacked  it  in  the  night,  plundered  the  place,  and  then 
set  fire  to  it.  The  inhabitants  fled  up  the  valley  and 
escaped  with  their  lives,  but  they  were  much  dis- 
tressed afterwards,  and  Jack's  mother  could  not  find 
anybody  to  buy  her  yarn  and  thread ;  thus  Master 
Jack,  his  mother  and  sister,  began  to  want  food. 
The  poor  woman  bartered  her  fowls  for  bread,  but  at 
last,  when  all  the  fowls  were  gfone,  and  all  the  bread 
was  eaten,  then  there  was  nothing  left  but  to  try  and 
sell  the  cow.  But  the  poor  woman  happened  to  be 
ill  at  this  time,  and  therefore  she  was  not  able  to  take 
the  cow  to  market  herself ;  and  Jack  was  such  a 
thoughtless,  careless  boy,  that  she  was  almost  afraid 
to  trust  him — but  the  cow  must  be  sold. 


54         Jack  and  the  Bean-Stalk 

Master  Jack  set  out  to  the  village  with  the  cow, 
but,  being  too  idle  to  walk,  he  got  up  on  her  back  to 
ride  ;  and  before  he  arrived  at  the  village  he  met  with 
a  butcher,  who  was  one  of  those  idle  and  dishonest 
men  that  would  cheat  anybody,  and  who  tried,  by 
gambling  and  betting,  to  live  upon  other  peoples* 
money  without  doing  any  work  himself.  So,  when 
he  saw  Jack  riding  upon  the  cow,  he  guessed  that  he 
was  going  to  sell  it,  and  knowing  Jack's  easy,  simple 
disposition,  he  determined  to  cheat  him  out  of  the 
cow.  These  wicked  men  never  care  about  the  misery 
they  bring  upon  those  they  rob,  or  the  worse  misery 
of  friends,  who  suffer  from  the  folly  of  those  whom 
they  have  cheated.  The  butcher  soon  struck  a  bar- 
gain with  Jack,  but,  after  he  had  paid  him  the  money, 
he  won  it  all  back  again  by  cheating  him  at  a  game 
of  chance. 

Jack,  finding  his  money  all  gone,  begged  of  the 
butcher  to  give  him  a  trifle  to  buy  some  bread  to  take 
home  to  his  sick  mother  and  sister  ;  but  the  rogue 
only  laughed  at  him,  and  began  to  drive  the  cow  tow- 
ards the  village,  but  he  beat  her  so  cruelly  that  she 
turned  upon  him  and  tossed  him  into  a  pond,  out  of 


Jack  and  the  Bean-Stalk  55 

which  he  scrambled  and  made  after  the  cow,  who  had 
run  a  long  way  up  the  valley  :  but  he  had  only  gone 
a  few  yards  after  her  when  he  tumbled  down  on  his 
nose,  and  hurt  himself  so  much  that  he  went  limping 
and  growling  back  to  his  home  ;  and  the  next  day  the 
poor  cow  was  found  in  her  shed,  which  was  a  great 
comfort  to  Jack's  mother,  sister,  and  himself. 

Poor,  silly,  simple  Jack,  went  slowly  and  sorrow- 
fully back  to  his  mother's  cottage,  at  the  door  of 
which  his  sister  was  looking  out  for  him,  as  she  and 
her  mother  began  to  fear  that  he  had  met  with  some 
mishap.  He  beckoned  to  his  sister  to  come  to  him  ; 
and  when  she  did  so,  he  told  her  what  had  happened. 
Jack  was  so  afraid  to  tell  his  mother  the  truth,  that 
he  proposed  to  say  that  the  cow  had  run  away  u[) 
into  the  wood  ;  which,  indeed,  she  had,  but  his  sister 
pointed  out  to  him,  that  as  this  would  be  a  falsehood, 
he  would  be  adding  the  crime  of  lying  to  his  very 
naughty  and  imprudent  conduct  in  not  bringing 
safely  back  the  money  for  the  cow,  which  they  so 
very  much  wanted  to  buy  food  with  ;  and  reminded 
him  that  their  mother  had  always  impressed  upon 
them  the  wickedness  of  telling  any  kind  of  falsehood, 


56         Jack  and  the  Bean-Stalk 

and  that  she  would  always  forgive  them,  even  when 
they  had  done  wrong,  if  they  did  but  tell  the  truth 
about  it. 

Jack's  mother  soon  saw  that  there  was  something 
wrong,  and  when  he  told  her  how  foolish  and  naughty 
he  had  been,  she  began  to  cry  dreadfully,  for  fear 
that  her  children  and  herself  should  die  of  hunger. 
When  the  children  saw  the  great  grief  of  their  poor 
mother,  they  also  began  to  cry  bitterly  ;  but  suddenly 
Jack  said,  "  Don't  cry,  dear  mother  and  sister ;  I  '11 
go  and  get  some  work  to  do,  and  bring  you  home 
some  food."  His  mother  did  cheer  up  a  little,  for 
this  was  the  first  time  she  had  ever  heard  him  talk  of 
getting  any  work  to  do.  They  then  dried  up  their 
tears.  The  mother  gave  him  her  blessing ;  and  she 
and  his  sister  kissing  him  and  wishing  him  every 
success,  he  set  out  to  seek  for  employment. 

This  was  indeed,  the  first  time  that  Jack  had  ever 
felt  a  desire  to  work  in  right  earnest ;  and  he  was 
quite  cheerful  and  happy  at  the  thought  of  earning 
something,  that  he  might  take  home  some  food  to 
his  mother  and  sister. 

As  Jack  was  hastening  along  to  the  village,  he  saw 


Jack  and  the  Bean-Stalk         57 

a  little  old  woman,  in  a  hood  and  cloak,  sitting  by 
the  road-side,  who  appeared  to  be  bent  down  with 
age  and  illness.  Now,  although  Jack  was  in  a  great 
hurry,  his  heart  was  too  good  to  pass  by  any  one 
who  seemed  in  distress,  so  he  went  to  the  old  woman 
and  asked  her  if  he  could  do  anything  to  help  her. 
At  first  she  only  answered  by  a  low,  moaning  sort  of 
sound,  and  kept  rocking  herself  backward,  and  for- 
wards ;  but  Jack  stooped  down  and,  speaking  kindly 
to  her,  took  her  hand,  in  order  to  raise  her  from  the 
ground. 

Her  cloak  and  dress  were  of  a  dark,  dingy  brown  ; 
but  as  she  rose  up,  it  seemed  to  change  to  green, 
mixed  with  red,  and  blue  and  yellow  ;  and  her  aged 
wrinkled  face  seemed  also  to  be  chanorine  from 
a  pale  yellow  to  pink  ;  and  the  half-shut  grey 
eyes  seemed  to  open  into  two  bright,  glisten- 
ing, little  blue  ones,  that  fixed  their  gaze  upon 
him.  Ami  then,  slowly,  the  hood,  the  cloak  and 
gown,  with  the  old  pale  face,  and  brown  wrinkled 
hands  and  arms,  all  disappeared  or  melted  away  into 
the  air  ;  and  there  stood  before  him  a  most  charmino- 
and  graceful  little  lady,  with  light  flaxen  hair,  encir- 


58  Jack  and  the  Bean-Stalk 

cled  by  a  wreath  of  little  tiny  flowers.  She  had  a 
pair  of  wings  like  those  of  some  beautiful  butterfly, 
to  which  her  dress  corresponded.  In  one  hand  she 
held  a  thin  light  wand,  and  in  the  other  a  Bean,  spec- 
kled with  bright  purple  and  gold.  Jack  started  back 
with  surprise  when  he  beheld  this  pretty  little  figure, 
which  he  rightly  guessed  was  a  Fairy,  and  who  thus 
addressed  him  :  "  Be  not  afraid,  Master  Jack  !  You 
came  with  kind  intentions  to  help  one  whom  you 
thought  in  need,  and  in  return  I  intend  to  help  and 
sc;rve  you  and  all  that  belong  to  you  ;  but  I  require 
yow'  aid  in  some  things,  and  we  shall  thus  mutually 
assist  each  other.  I  have  long  wished  to  employ 
you  in  a  difficult  and  important  matter,  but  I  could 
not  trust  you  whilst  you  were  so  careless  and  idly 
disposed  ;  but  now,  that  you  have  this  day  shaken  off 
tiiat  slothful  habit,  and  have  determined  to  be  active, 
diligent,  and  trustworthy,  I  no  longer  hesitate,  and 
shall  therefore  prepare  you  for  the  duties  you  will 
have  to  perform,  by  first  telling  you  of  your  father 
(who  still  lives),  of  your  infant  years,  and  how  your 
mother,  your  sister,  and  yourself,  came  to  live  in  this 
valley  :    telling    you,    indeed,    all    that   which   your 


r^-'-^'^-HtK^iiv&s  hint  tJitWorukyftX"^*^ 


S9 


Jack  and  the  Bean-Stalk  6i 

mother  has  concealed  from  you,  and  also  the  reason 
why  she  has  done  so. 

"You  must  know,  then,  that  your  father,  Sir 
Ethelbert,  who  is  a  brave  Saxon  knight,  is  still  alive, 
and  a  prisoner  in  his  own  castle.  At  the  time  when 
your  mother  and  yourselves  were  taken  from  him, 
your  sister  was  then  a  little  child,  and  yourself  an  in- 
fant. Your  parents  lived  in  great  happiness  and 
comfort,  beloved  and  respected  by  all  who  knew 
them. 

"  But  this  state  of  happiness  was  suddenly  de- 
stroyed ;  for,  one  night,  a  huge  and  terrible  Danish 
Giant  came  in  a  large  ship  to  the  sea-coast,  which 
was  near  your  father's  castle ;  landed,  and,  under 
cover  of  the  darkness  of  the  night,  got  over  the 
walls,  and  having  killed  the  porter  and  the  guards, 
he  made  your  father  a  prisoner.  On  the  morning 
after  he  had  taken  possession  of  the  castle,  he 
brought  your  parents  and  you  two  children  out  into 
the  court-yard,  and  all  your  father's  surviving  rela- 
tions and  retainers,  and  was  about  to  slaughter  every 
one  ;  but  his  wife,  who  came  with  him  from  Den- 
mark and  who  was  a  very  tender-hearted  woman,  and 


62         Jack  and  the  Bean-Stalk 

had  great  influence  over  him,  begged  that  the  lives 
of  your  mother  and  her  two  children  might  be 
spared. 

"  To  this  the  Giant  at  last  consented  ;  but  he  said 
he  must  take  them  off  a  long  way,  and  that  your 
mother  must  take  a  solemn  oath  that  she  would 
never  tell  anyone  of  what  had  taken  place,  nor  say 
where  she  came  from, — not  even  to  her  children. 
This  your  mother  did  to  save  you  both  ;  but  had  it 
not  been  for  you  and  your  sister,  she  would  have 
preferred  remaining  to  die  with  her  husband,  your 
father,  whom  she  now  believes  to  be  dead  :  and  this, 
then,  is  the  reason  why  she  is  so  sorrowful  when  you 
ask  anything  about  him.  The  Giant  having  shut  up 
your  father  and  all  the  others  in  dungeons,  he  then 
placed  your  mother  and  you  two  little  ones  in  a  large 
basket,  into' which  his  wife  put  a  quantity  of  provi- 
sions, some  clothes  and  a  trifle  of  money,  and  away 
he  went  down  to  his  ship,  and  sailed  round  the  coast, 
until  he  came  to  this  valley,  where  he  put  you 
ashore,  threatening  that  if  your  mother  ever  said  a 
word  to  anyone  of  what  had  happened,  that  he 
would  come  and  eat  you  all  up  alive. 


Jack  and  the  Bean-Stalk  6 


J 


"  Your  mother  wandered  up  this  valley,  and 
having  met  with  a  poor,  honest  labourer,  she  em- 
ployed him  to  build  a  little  cottage  ;  where  she  has 
lived  ever  since,  working  hard  to  maintain  you  and 
your  sister,  and  to  bring  you  up  to  be  good  children. 

"  Now,  you  must  understand  that  I  have  two  sis- 
ters— one  a  Fairy  Harp,  that  plays  most  beautiful 
music  ;  the  other  a  beautiful  Hen,  that  lays  golden 
eggs  ;  these  are  domestic  Fairies,  and  cannot  leave 
home  whilst  the  master  is  in  the  house,  who  must  be 
a  good  and  honest  man  ;  and  they  can  only  be  car- 
ried away  by  the  son  and  heir,  or  driven  away  by  the 
bad  conduct  of  the  master  or  head  of  the  family  ;  and 
whilst  it  was  their  business  to  assist  in  makintr  the 
inside  of  the  house  happy  and  comfortable,  it  was 
mine  to  attend  to  the  garden,  to  supply  fruit  and 
beautiful  flowers  to  your  mother  and  the  other  in- 
mates of  the  castle.  As  you  have  grown  up  a  good 
strong  boy,  and  as  you  are  now  ready  and  willing  to 
make  yourself  useful,  we  must  try  to  restore  your 
parents  to  their  rights  and  to  their  happy  home 
again,  and  destroy  the  Giant  ; — there  is  only  t)ne 
way  to  effect  this,  and  you  are  the  only  one  who  can 


64         Jack  and  the  Bean-Stalk 

do  it,  and  in  doing  it  you  must  be  very  careful  to 
obey  my  injunctions. 

"  First,  then,  take  this  Bean,  and  when  you  go 
home,  dig  a  deep  hole  in  the  garden,  near  the  side  of 
the  steep  rock  and  there  set  it.  By  the  morning  it 
will  have  grown  up  to  the  top  of  the  cliff,  and  up  this 
Bean-stalk  you  must  climb  ;  for  that  is  the  only  way 
you  can  get  to  your  father's  castle.  When  you  reach 
the  top  of  the  rock  you  will  be  directed  which  way 
to  go,  and  then  mind  that  you  have  three  things  to 
accomplish.  The  first  thing  is,  to  bring  away  my  sister, 
the  Golden  Hen  ;  when  you  have  brought  her  to  the 
cottage,  you  must  return  to  fetch  away  my  sister,  the 
Harp.  They  will  at  first  be  alarmed  at  seeing  you, 
but  you  must  cry  quickly  '  Adza  Padza  ! '  and  they 
will  then  know  that  it  is  I  who  have  sent  you. 
When  both  are  safe  under  your  mother's  care,  you 
must  then  o-o  back  ao-ain  to  the  castle  to  liberate 
your  father.  I  shall  not  see  you  again  until  you  have 
accomplished  all  this, — the  success  of  which  will  prin- 
cipally depend  upon  your  courage  and  perseverance. 
I  may,  perhaps,  help  you  a  little  ;  but  remember, 
that  no    one   can  be   served  who    depends    entirely 


Jack  and  the  Bean-Stalk  65 

upon  others,  and  who  will  not  try  to  help  himself. 
And  now  take  this  piece  of  money — go  to  the  village, 
buy  some  food  and  take  it  home — conceal  nothing 
from  your  mother,  who  is  the  best  friend  you  can 
have — tell  her  to  cheer  up  and  hope  for  better  times 
— that  you  have  got  some  work  to  do,  which  you 
must  set  about  to-morrow  morning,  and  that  she 
must  give  you  her  blessing  before  you  begin,  and 
pray  for  your  success." 

As  the  Fairy  ceased  speaking,  her  little  voice, 
which  sounded  like  a  silver  bell,  became  fainter  and 
fainter,  and  her  bright  appearance  grew  dim  and 
more  indistinct,  till  she  disappeared  altogether. 
Jack  stood  for  some  minutes  before  he  could  recover 
from  the  effect  of  this  strange  stor)- ;  he  had  under- 
gone a  great  change,  and  he  now  seemed  to  possess 
feelings  which  he  had  never  known  before.  His 
mind  was  opened  —  his  faculties  and  energies 
aroused.  Jack's  mother  and  sister  were,  indeed, 
more  than  surprised  to  hear  the  account  he  gave 
of  meeting  the  Fair)',  and  the  task  she  had  given 
him  to  do  ;  but  the  mother's  heart  sank  at  the  idea 
of  the  dangers  which  her  dear  boy  would  have  to  en- 


66         Jack  and  the  Bean-Stalk 

counter.  But,  finding  that  Jack  was  determined  to 
venture  upon  this  perilous  task,  and  buoyed  up  with 
the  hope  of  again  beholding  her  dear  husband,  she 
gave  her  consent.  After  a  hasty  meal.  Jack  took  the 
spade,  and  went  into  the  garden  to  plant  the  Bean 
according  to  the  Fairy's  directions,  whilst  his  mother 
and  sister  sat  at  the  cottage  door,  spinning  from 
their  distaffs.  Jack  felt  so  happy  and  cheerful  with 
the  little  diofeine  he  had  done  to  set  the  Bean,  that 
he  went  on  digging  part  of  the  vegetable  garden, 
to  the  Q-reat  delicrht  of  his  mother  and  sister,  who 
had  never  seen  him  work  with  such  good-will  before. 
On  the  following  morning  they  were  all  up  long 
before  break  of  day,  although  it  was  summer  time ; 
and  whilst  they  were  preparing  Jack's  breakfast  he 
went  out  to  see  how  the  Bean  had  got  on,  and 
came  running  in  to  tell  them  that  it  had  grown — oh, 
such  a  wonderful  size,  and  higher  than  he  could  see  ! 
And  Jack  was  so  impatient  to  set  out  upon  his 
journey  that  he  would  hardly  take  time  to  get  his 
breakfast;  so,  putting  some  bread  in  his  pouch,  he 
went  forth,  followed  by  his  mother  and  sister,  who, 
like  himself,  were  astonished  at  the  growth   of  the 


Jack  and  the  Bcan-Stalk  67 

wonderful  Bean,  at  the  foot  of  which  they  all  knelt 
down  whilst  his  mother  gave  him  her  blessing,  and 
prayed  for  his  safety  and  success  in  the  good  work 
he  was  about  to  commence.  Then,  tenderly  embrac- 
ing and  kissing  his  dear  mother  and  sister,  Jack 
boldly  sprang  upon  the  Bean-stalk,  and  up  !  up  !  he 
went  like  an  expert  climber,  as  he  was.  Up  !  up  ! — 
looking  upwards — mounting  up  !  up  ! — higher  and 
higher.  Up  !  up  ! — higher  still.  Then,  pausing  for 
a  moment  to  look  down,  he  was  astonished  at  the 
distance  he  had  got  from  the  ground,  and  could  just 
dimly  distinguish  the  figures  of  his  mother  and  sister 
waving  their  hands  and  wafting  their  kisses  and 
blessings  towards  him  ;  he  waved  his  hand  to  them 
in  return  cheeringly,  and  to  bid  them  good-bye. 
Then  up !  up  !  he  went,  higher  and  higher.  Up  ! 
up  ! — higher  and  higher  still  ;  then  he  stopped  to 
breathe  awhile,  and,  looking  out  towards  the  coast, 
he  saw  the  glorious  sun  risinsc  from  the  ocean — the 
light  bursting  through  gold  and  crimson  clouds. 
Up!  up!  again — higher  and  higher  still,  and  look- 
ing down,  he  could  scarcely  see  his  mother's  cottage. 
The  whole  valley  looked  like  a  pretty  garden,  the 


68         Jack  and  the  Bean-Stalk 

great  trees  like  shrubs,  and  the  bold  river  that  ran 
through  it  reduced  in  size  to  a  little  silver  rivulet. 
Up  !  up  ! — higher  and  higher  still,  until  he  reached 
the  clouds  that  floated  below  the  mountain  summit. 
Jack  was  impressed  with  a  feeling  of  awe  at  the 
strancre  and  wonderful  scene  around  him,  and  at  his 
perilous  situation. 

The  wind  now  arose,  and  as  the  leaves  and  the 
very  Bean-stalk  itself  began  to  shake,  and  the  mists 
to  dash  around  him,  he  paused  awhile  before  lie  ven- 
tured to  proceed  farther,  for  even  the  upper  part  of 
the  Bean-stalk  was  hidden  from  his  view. 

He  then  began  to  think  that,  after  all,  the  Fairy 
might,  perhaps,  be  some  evil  spirit  that  had  led  him 
into  this  dano-er  :  and  what  a  dreadful  thimj  it  would 
be  if  he  were  to  fall  from  such  a  height,  and  be 
dashed  to  pieces !  and  he  hesitated  about  going 
on.  But,  if  the  Fairy  was  a  true  spirit,  then 
what  a  disofrace  it  would  be  were  he  to  return 
without  accomplishing  his  object.  That  object  was 
a  good  one  ;  it  was  to  relieve  a  father  from  bondage 
— perhaps  to  save  his  life  ;  and  thus  it  was  a  good,  a 
holy  enterprise  ;  and  as  the  Bean-stalk  rocked  to  and 


Jack  and  the  Bean-Stalk  69 

fro,  and  shivered  in  the  breeze,  he  prayed  for  suc- 
cour, for  support,  and  strength,  and  he  felt  his  courage 
and  his  strength  revive.  Then  up  !  up  !  through  the 
clouds  he  went — up  !  up  !  higher  and  higher — till  he 
had  passed  quite  through  the  floating  vapour — up  ! 
up  !  he  went,  cheerily  and  boldly.  An  eagle  now 
dashed  out  from  a  crevice  in  the  cliffs,  to  see  what 
strange  visitor  had  climbed  so  near  his  solitary  nest. 
Jack  heeded  him  not  ;  but  up  !  up  !  he  went — 
higher  and  higher — and  the  eagle,  too,  whirled, 
circling — up  !  up  !  into  the  blue  and  cloudless  sky. 
Up  too  went  Jack  ;  and  now  he  saw  a  projecting 
rock,  round  which  the  Bean-stalk  seemed  to  twine : 
it  was  what  the  valley  folks  had  named  the  Giant's 
Nose. 

Jack  at  length  arrived  at  the  top  of  the  Bean-stalk, 
and  was  glad  enough  when  he  got  upon  the  firm 
rock,  where  he  sat  down  to  rest  awhile  and  look 
about  him.  The  scene  that  presented  itself  was  new 
and  stranore  :  the  clouds  that  rolled  below  the  moun- 
tain  tops  appeared  like  fields  of  snow,  with  here  and 
there  dark  holes  or  chasms  in  them  ;  and  snow  lay  all 
around  him,  on  the  mountain  tops  :  but  he  must  not 


70         Jack  and  the  Bean-Stalk 

tarry  there,  so  on  he  went,  but  at  a  loss  to  know  in 
what  direction,  when,  as  he  went  along,  he  espied  a 
Snowball,  larg-e  and  round,  which  rolled  before  him 
down  the  mountain  side.  As  he  went  forward,  the 
Snowball  rolled  and  jumped  along",  and  he  now  recol- 
lected that  the  Fairy  had  said  that  the  road  should  be 
pointed  out  to  him  ;  and  he  laughed  outright  to  think 
that  a  Snowball  should  be  his  guide  ;  the  Snowball 
stopped,  and  there  was  now  an  open  view  before  him 
of  a  beautiful  country.  Jack  could  distinguish,  at 
the  distance  of  two  or  three  miles,  a  fine  building, 
towering  above  the  trees  that  surrounded  it.  This, 
then,  must  be  his  father's  castle  ;  so  off  he  set  to- 
wards it,  and  in  a  short  time  arrived  there,  and  made 
his  way  to  the  gate,  at  which  he  saw  a  plain,  good- 
natured-looking  Giantess  standing,  to  whom  he  went 
up  and  humbly  begged  of  her  some  food  and  a  night's 
lodging  :  she  expressed  great  surprise  at  seeing  him, 
and  asked  if  he  did  not  know  that  her  husband  was  a 
great  and  powerful  Giant,  who  killed  everybody  that 
came  near  his  castle.  This  account  terrified  Jack  a 
little,  but  he  hoped  to  elude  the  Giant  ;  and,  being 
resolute  to  go  on  with  what  he  had  begun,  he  again 


Jack  and  the  Bean-Stalk  71 

entreated  her  to  ^Ive  him  a  little  food,  and  hide  him 
in  the  oven,  or  the  copper,  or  somewhere,  till  the 
morning  ;  and  he  told  her  the  truth  when  he  said 
that  he  was  almost  dying  of  hunger,  and  almost  tired 
to  death.  The  good  Giantess  at  last  suffered  herself 
to  be  persuaded,  for  she  was  of  a  very  compassionate 
disposition.  She  took  him  across  the  court-yard  into 
the  castle,  past  a  large  hall,  upon  the  walls  of  which 
hung  shields,  and  spears,  and  helmets,  bows  and 
arrows,  battle-axes,  surmounted  with  boars'  and  stags' 
heads;  from  the  roof  hung  an  immense  iron  lamp  by 
a  chain,  and  there  was  a  table  as  high  as  a  four-post 
bedstead,  and  an  immense  arm-chair  to  match  ;  this 
was  the  Giant's  table  and  chair.  The  mere  sight  of 
these  made  Jack  a  little  downhearted,  but  he  followed 
the  Giantess  through  a  long  galler)%  on  each  side  of 
which  were  iron  trrated  doors,  leadincf  to  cells  that 
were  quite  dark,  and  in  which  he  could  hear  the 
sound  of  moaningr  and  chains  rattlingr.  In  one  of 
these  dungeons,  thought  he,  my  poor  father  is  con- 
fined. And  the  thought  of  being,  perhaps,  able  to 
rescue  him,  kept  his  courage  up,  otherwise  he  could 
have  wished  himself  at  home  in  his  mother's  cottage 


72         Jack  and  the  Bean-Stalk 

again.  The  good  woman  led  him  on  down  a  winding 
staircase,  into  a  spacious  kitchen  ;  an  immensely  large 
fire  was  burninor  on  the  hearth,  and  an  ox  roastinof 
before  it  upon  a  spit  as  long  as  the  pole  of  a  coach. 
She  cut  a  large  slice  off  the  ox,  put  it  upon  a  wooden 
trencher  big  enough  for  the  top  of  a  good-sized  round 
table,  and  gave  him  what  she  called  a  "  bit  of  bread," 
but  which  was  nearly  as  large  as  a  peck-loaf ;  and, 
handing  him  a  knife  that  looked  more  like  a  sabre, 
told  him  to  make  haste,  for  it  was  near  the  Giant's 
supper-time,  and  he  would  soon  be  in.  Jack,  there- 
fore, ate  his  bread  and  meat  as  fast  as  he  could  ; 
and  having  taken  a  good  drink  of  water,  began  to 
feel  very  comfortable,  and  was  just  falling  into  a  doze, 
when  he  heard  a  voice,  like  the  roaring  of  a  dozen 
bulls,  shouting  out,  "  Holloa  !  wife !  wife  !  where  are 
you?     Is  my  supper  ready  ?" 

"  Here  he  is  !"  cried  the  wife  ;  "  come,  quick,  boy, 
jump  into  the  oven  ! "  which  Jack  did  in  an  instant  ; 
and  as  she  shut  the  oven  door,  she  shouted  out  to 
the  Giant,  "  Here  I  am,  dear  Swillenbutz  "  (for  that 
was  the  Giant's  name),  "and  your  supper  is  quite 
ready."     The  next  moment  a  large  foldiijg-door  was 


Jack  and  the  Bean-Stalk  73 

burst  open,  and  in  crept  the  Giant  on  his  hands  and 
knees — for  he  was  too  tall  to  stand  quite  upright  in 
any  part  of  the  castle  :  so  he  crept  in,  throwing  into  a 
corner  a  large  quantity  of  barley  and  wheat  and  the 
carcass  of  an  ox  ;  then,  squatting  himself  on  the  floor 
before  the  fire,  he  looked  at  the  ox  roasting,  and  cried 
out,  in  his  dreadfully  strong  voice,  "  Ha  !  ha  !  dat 
looks  nice  !  "  But,  suddenly  turning  his  head  round 
towards  the  oven,  he  roared  out  :  "  Wife  !  I  smell 
fresh  a'  meat."  "Well,"  said  the  wife,  "  I  don't 
know  dihoutf j'es/i  meat,  but  the  crows  have  brought 
a  bit  of  carrion  and  laid  it  on  the  turret."  "  Oh, 
well,"  said  the  Giant,  "perhaps 't  is  dat."  He  then 
took  the  ox  off  the  spit  and  laid  it  on  the  hearth, 
blowing  it  all  over  to  cool  it  a  little,  his  blowing 
sounding  like  the  bellows  of  a  large  furnace.  When  he 
had  done  that,  he  took  it  up  in  his  hands,  as  anybody 
might  a  roasted  rabbit,  and  tore  it  to  pieces,  giving 
his  wife  a  leg,  with,  "  Here,  you  take  a'  dat"  ;  and 
began  to  devour  the  rest,  making  a  terrible  smacking 
and  grinding  noise  with  his  mouth  and  teeth.  Mrs. 
Swillenbutz,  who  had  soon  finished  the  legf  of  the  ox, 
took  up  all  the  bones  to  pick  which  her   husband  had 


74         J^ck  and  the  Bean-Stalk 

thrown  to  her.  "  Now  to  de  hall,  and  give  me  my 
drink,  and  bring  me  de  Golden  Hen,"  cried  the 
Giant  ;  and  he  crept  out  of  the  kitchen  again,  for  he 
had  to  go  into  the  court-yard  before  he  could  enter 
the  large  hall. 

When  Jack  first  heard  the  Giant's  voice,  his  heart 
began  to  beat  rather  fast ;  still  more  so  when  he 
found  the  Giant  was  in  the  same  room  with  him  ; 
and  when,  in  peeping  through  a  crevice  by  the  oven 
door,  he  saw  this  immense,  terrific  monster  Giant, 
look  round  towards  the  oven  door  and  talk  about 
smelling  fresh  meat.  Jack  then  shook  with  fear,  and 
was  glad  enough  when  he  saw  the  Giant  turn  to 
devour  his  supper,  but  he  said  to  himself,  "  It  will 
never  do  to  be  so  frightened.  I  shall  be  quite  un- 
fitted for  what  I  have  to  do "  ;  so  he  kept  himself 
calm  and  steady,  and  ready  to  act  as  soon  as  opportu- 
nity offered.  By-and-bye  it  grew  dark,  and  the 
Giant's  wife  came  to  the  oven  door,  and,  having 
opened  it,  she  said,  "  There  is  some  more  bread  for 
you,  young  gentleman  ;  and  mind  and  be  ofif  early  in 
the  morning,  before  my  husband  goes  out,  and  think 
yourself  very  lucky  that  he  hasn't  gobbled  you  up. 


Jack  and  the  Bean-Stalk  75 

You  caii  get  out  under  the  castle  gate."  Jack  now 
crept  out  of  his  hiding-place,  and  found  his  way  to 
the  hall,  where,  passing  in,  he  saw  by  the  light  of  the 
great  lamp  the  Giant  lolling  in  his  chair,  and,  ever 
and  anon,  drinking  out  of  a  large  can  that  held  some 
gallons,  and  which  he  emptied  at  a  draught.  On  the 
table  was  the  Golden  Hen,  who  walked  up  and  down, 
crying,  "Cluck,  cluck,  cluck,"  and  "  Took-a-rook- 
took-took-took "  ;  the  Giant  every  now  and  then 
saying  to  the  Hen,  ''Lay !  "  and  then  the  Hen  laid  a 
solid  golden  ^^'g,  in  a  flat  basket  that  was  placed  upon 
the  table. 

Jack  waited  for  two  or  three  hours,  until  the  Giant 
had  evidently  drunk  himself  stupid,  and  then  his 
great  head  rolled  about,  and  at  last  he  fell  back  in  his 
chair  in  a  sound  sleep,  snoring  at  such  a  rate  that  it 
quite  shook  the  ground  where  Jack  was  standing. 
Now  is  the  moment,  thought  he  ;  and  stepping  boldly 
forward,  he  mounted  upon  a  stool  that  stood  by  the 
table,  when  he  saw  the  Golden  Hen  sitting  in  the 
basket  upon  her  eggs.  At  the  sight  of  Jack  she 
began  to  "  cluck "  loudly  ;  but  Jack  quickly  cried, 
"  Adza  Padza  !  "  and  the  Hen  started  up  and  ran  to 


'](y         Jack  and  the  Bean-Stalk 

him,  fluttered  her  wings  and  jumped  upon  his  hand. 
He  then  descended  from  the  stool,  and  was  making 
for  the  hall  door,  when  he  heard  a  shrill  harsh  voice 
cry  out,  "  Master  !  Master  !  thieves  !  thieves  !"  Jack 
stopped,  perfectly  astounded,  for  he  thought  the 
Giant  was  alone,  his  wife  having  gone  up  into  the 
tower  to  bed  in  the  early  part  of  the  evening,  which 
she  did  whenever  she  saw  her  husband  getting  tipsy, 
as  he  always  ill-used  and  beat  her  when  he  was  intox- 
icated ;  and  looking  round  to  see  who  it  could  be,  he 
discovered  a  wee  little  Dwarf,  who  grinned  at  him 
good-humoredly,  and  motioned  him  to  go  on,  whilst 
he  kept  on  crying  "  Master  !  Master  !  "  Jack  took 
the  hint  at  once,  and  was  off  as  fast  as  his  legs  could 
carry  him,  having  crept  under  the  castle  gate  with  the 
Hen,  who  cried,  "  Cluck,  cluck,"  and,  jumping  upon 
the  top  of  his  head,  fixed  her  claws  in  his  hair,  so 
that  as  he  ran  his  legs  seemed  scarcely  to  touch  the 
ground,  for  the  Hen  appeared  to  lift  him  up.  He 
had  taken  good  notice,  when  he  went  in,  in  which 
direction  he  should  return  to  the  Bean-stalk  ;  so  on 
he  ran,  imagining  he  had  quite  outwitted  the  Giant, 
when,  by  the  clucking  of  the  Hen,  he  thought  some- 


JaclC^eb  6)^(^o\dcy)}iervA^yAy  froTTjt^e  ^UVlb^ 


n 


Jack  and  the  Bean-Stalk  79 

thing  was  wrong,  and  upon  just  turning  his  head 
round  for  a  moment,  to  his  great  horror,  he  saw  the 
dreadful  Giant  running  after  him  with  all  his  might, 
and  with  such  long  strides  that  he  appeared  to  clear 
a  wide  field  at  one  step.  "Cluck,  cluck,"  went  the 
Hen,  and  faster  went  Jack  ;  indeed,  he  seemed  to  fly 
more  than  run,  and  when  he  got  a  long  way  up  the 
mountain  amongst  the  snow,  there  was  the  large 
Snowball  rolling  up  the  hill  before  him  to  show  him 
the  way,  and  looking  round  again,  he  saw  the  Giant 
slipping  and  sliding  amongst  the  snow,  and  at  every 
stride  he  made  forward  he  slid  back  again,  so  that  at 
last  he  lay  flat  on  his  face,  roaring  and  snorting  like 
a  herd  of  mad  bulls.  Jack  took  no  further  heed  of 
him,  but  made  his  way  to  the  Bean-stalk,  and  imme- 
diately began  to  descend,  which  he  found  a  much 
easier  task  than  that  of  climbing  up.  It  was  still 
early  in  the  morning  when  Jack  reached  his  mother's 
garden,  and  running  to  the  cot,  he  cried  out,  "  Dear 
mother  and  sister,  here  I  am."  And  oh  !  how  glad 
they  were  to  see  him — such  crying,  and  kissing,  and 
thanksgiving.  And  the  Hen  was  also  delighted  to  see 
her  old  mistress  and  her  dear  Ady,  and  went  clucking 


8o         Jack  and  the  Bean-Stalk 

about  the  cottage,  and  then  laid  several  golden  eggs 
without  being  asked,  which  Jack's  mother  took  to  the 
village,  and  exchanged  for  food  and  clothing,  which 
made  them  all  very  comfortable.  Jack's  mother  and 
sister  were  both  terrified  at  the  account  he  gave  of 
his  adventure  ;  but  the  mother's  fears  were  lessened 
by  Jack's  bold  and  courageous  bearing.  So  Jack 
rose  betimes  again,  and  long  before  the  break  of  day 
was  half-way  up  the  Bean-stalk  ;  he  soon  found  his 
way  to  the  castle  again.  The  only  fear  he  had  now 
of  being  discovered  was  from  the  Dwarf ;  and  yet 
the  little  creature  was  evidently  well-disposed  towards 
him.  As  he  lay  in  ambush  in  the  evening  he  saw  the 
Giantess  come  out  of  the  gate  to  look  for  her  hus- 
band, who  soon  returned,  loaded  as  before  with  a 
quantity  of  ripe  grain  in  sheaves.  Some  of  this  his 
wife  ground  and  made  into  bread,  but  the  greater 
part  the  Giant  made  into  strong  beer.  In  those  days 
there  were  large  herds  of  wild  cattle  and  deer  in  this 
country,  so  that  he  got  a  supply  of  meat  without  in- 
jury to  the  country  people ;  but  in  order  to  make  the 
strong  beer,  with  which  he  got  tipsy  every  night,  he 
robbed  the  poor  country  people,  to  such  an  extent 


Jack  and  the  Bean-Stalk         8i 

that,  however  much  their  land  seemed  blessed  by 
Providence  with  fine  crops  for  the  purpose  of  food, 
the  greater  part  was  always  taken  from  them  and 
destroyed  by  this  monster  to  make  his  intoxicating 
drink  ;  so  that  in  this  respect  alone,  besides  all  his 
other  wicked  acts,  he  was  like  a  blight  upon  all  the 
land  for  many  miles  round. 

The  Giant  seemed  in  a  very  bad  temper,  and  told 
his  wife  to  go  in,  make  his  supper  ready,  and  see 
that  she  shut  the  gate  and  fastened  it  properly  to 
keep  the  thieves  out ;  whilst  he,  putting  one  foot  on 
the  top  of  the  wall,  leaped  over  into  the  court-yard 
with  ease.  Jack  remained  in  his  hiding-place  until  it 
was  dark  ;  then  silently  stealing  up  to  the  gate,  he 
crawled  under  it,  and  made  his  way  to  the  great  hall 
again.  And  as  he  approached  it,  he  heard  the  most 
beautiful  music — so  sweet  and  powerful  was  it,  that 
he  seemed  spellbound  and  transfixed  to  the  spot ; 
but  recollecting  the  danger  he  was  in,  and  the  duty 
he  had  to  perform,  he  crept  on  softly  and  peeped  into 
the  hall,  where  the  Giant  was  alone,  again  drinking 
away  at  his  great  can,  and  getting  tipsy  as  fast 
as  he  could ;  and  on  the  table  stood  the  wonderful 


82  Jack  and  the  Bean-Stalk 

Fairy  Harp,  giving  out  its  delicious  sounds.  It  had 
tlie  face  and  figure  of  a  beautiful  female,  and  had 
wings  ;  but  the  figure  ended  in  the  form  of  a  stand, 
like  a  common  harp.  It  played  so  softly  and  melo- 
diously, that  even  the  monster  Giant  seemed  charmed 
with  it  and  fell  off  to  sleep  ;  upon  seeing  which.  Jack 
hastened  to  the  table,  but  whenever  he  came  near, 
the  Harp  went,  "  Twang  !  twang  !  "  so  loud,  that  the 
Giant  opened  his  stupid,  sleepy  eyes,  and  looked 
about,  and  then  went  ofT  to  sleep  again.  At  last  Jack 
got  near  enough  to  the  table  to  whisper  out,  "  Adza 
Padza!"  upon  which  the  Harp  Hew  off  the  table  into 
his  hands  at  once.  Away  went  Jack  to  the  door  with 
his  prize  ;  but  before  he  could  reach  it,  the  Dwarf, 
as  before,  cried  out,  "Master!  Master!  thieves! 
thieves!"  but  still  motioning  Jack  to  be  gone. 

This  time  the  Giant  was  on  his  legs  in  an  instant, 
and  must  have  caught  Jack,  had  he  been  sober;  but 
he  had  drunk  so  much  that  he  could  hardly  stand, 
and  reeled  about,  and  knocked  his  head  against  the 
roof  of  the  hall.  Jack,  therefore,  made  the  best  of 
his  time,  and  got  into  the  court-yard  ;  but  the  gate 
was  locked,  and  although  Jack  could  creep  under  the 


Jack  and  the  Bean-Stalk  8 


J 


gate,  the  Harp  could  not :  so  the  Harp  spoke  and 
said,  "  Phice  me  on  the  ground,"  which  Jack  did,  and 
the  Harp  went  "  Twang,"  and  with  one  bound  was 
over  the  wall  in  an  instant. 

Jack  had  no  sooner  got  on  the  outside  of  the  gate, 
and  taken  the  Harp  up  in  his  arms,  than  they  heard 
the  Giant  snorting  and  roaring  and  beating  about  the 
court-yard  with  his  great  club  (which  was  the  trunk 
of  a  good-sized  tree).  There  was  no  time  to  be  lost, 
so  Jack  ran  as  hard  as  he  could  ;  but  although  the 
Harp  was  very  light,  still  it  impeded  his  progress  a 
little  ;  and  when  he  looked  round,  he  could  just  see 
the  tall  figure  of  the  Giant  staggering  in  pursuit. 
After  a  time  Jack  put  down  the  Harp  to  rest  a  little, 
and  take  breath,  when  the  Harp  said  :  "  You  have 
carried  me  far  enough  ;  I  will  now  carry  you,  so  get 
up  across  my  shoulders."  Jack  thought  it  a  funny 
thing  to  ride  upon  a  Harp,  but  up  he  got,  placing 
one  leg  over  each  shoulder,  and  holding  on  by  the 
hair  ;  and  as  soon  as  he  was  well  seated  the  Harp 
said,  "  Hold  fast,"  and  then  went  "twang,"  sprang  up 
into  the  air,  and  (lew  like  a  bird.  By  this  time  the 
Giant  was  getting  near,  and  threw  his  great  club-tree 


84         Jack  and  the  Bean-Stalk 

at  them  ;  but  it  luckily  fell  short,  so  on  they  went, 
and  at  length  came  to  the  edge  of  the  precipice, 
when  Jack  wanted  to  dismount  and  look  for  his 
Bean-stalk,  but  the  Harp,  which  was  now  standing 
on  the  ground,  said,  "  Sit  still  and  fear  not  ;  I  will 
take  you  down  in  safety  :  the  Giant  is  near,  and  will, 
I  expect,  throw  some  of  those  pieces  of  rock  at  us  ; 
all  I  want  you  to  do,  is,  to  look  round  and  tell  me  on 
which  side  I  am  to  spring  in  order  to  avoid  them." 
Up  came  the  Giant,  panting  and  snorting,  thinking 
that  he  had  caught  them  at  last,  when  "  Twang " 
went  the  Harp,  and  away  she  flew  over  the  edge  of 
the  cliff.  Such  a  plunge  as  that,  took  Jack's  breath 
away  :  but  when  he  heard  the  Giant  roar  he  recol- 
lected the  part  he  had  to  act,  and  looking  round  and 
seeing  a  large  piece  of  rock  flying  after  them,  cried 
out  to  the  Harp,  "  To  the  right!"  "Twang,"  went 
the  Harp  and  sprang  on  one  side.  Again  he  cried 
out,  as  another  piece  was  coming  near,  "  To  the  left ! " 
"  Twang,"  went  the  Harp ;  to  the  left  they  went, 
and  so  they  went  on,  until  they  got  quite  out  of 
danger,  and  then  the  Harp  played  a  most  beautiful 
and  lively  tune,  and  descended  into  the  valley  near 


%J 


8s 


Jack  and  the  Bean-Stalk         Sy 

to  his  mother's  hut,  who,  with  his  sister,  were  on  the 
look  out  for  him,  but  who  were  terribly  alarmed 
when  they  saw  the  huge  pieces  of  rock  come  tum- 
bling down,  and  crushing  great  trees  in  their  fall. 
The  Golden  Hen  was  perched  upon  the  roof  of  the 
cottage,  and  clucked  away  at  a  fine  rate  when  she 
heard  and  saw  the  Harp  and  Jack  descending. 

Jack's  mother  and  sister,  himself,  and  even  the  Hen 
and  Harp,  seemed  all  happy  that  day  ;  but  Jack  got 
the  Hen  to  lay  him  some  golden  eggs,  with  which  he 
went  to  the  villaire  and  boucrht  some  stronof  iron  files 
and  other  tools. 

Jack  had  one  more  journey  to  make  up  the  Bean- 
stalk, and  now  that  he  was  going  to  try  to  release 
his  father,  his  courage  and  determination  were  stronger 
than  ever  ;  but  his  mother's  fears  increased,  yet  the 
thoughts  of  the  possibility  of  seeing  her  husband 
again,  made  her  heart  beat  with  joy  and  fear  :  but 
she  prayed  for  her  son's  success,  and  early  in  the 
morning  giving  him  her  blessing,  lack  once  more, 
and  for  the  third  time,  mounted  the  Bean-stalk. 

Master  Jack  was  very  careful  in  keeping  a  good 
look-out,  lest  the  Giant   might  see  him  on  the  road  ; 


88  Jack  and  the  Bean-Stalk 

and  when  he  got  into  the  neighbourhood  of  the  castle 
he  concealed  himself  until  it  was  dark,  before  he 
ventured  to  approach  the  gate  ;  and  when  he  did  so 
he  found  that  the  Giant  had  placed  large  logs  of  wood 
against  the  bottom,  so  that  he  could  not  get  under 
it  as  usual.  "Oh  !  oh!  Mr.  Giant,"  said  Jack,  "you 
think  yourself  secure  now,  I  suppose  ? "  So  out  came 
the  carpenter's  tools,  and  Jack  set  to  work  in  right 
earnest,  and  had  no  fear  of  being  heard,  as  the  Giant 
was  snoring.  In  an  hour  or  so  he  had  made  a  hole 
in  the  gate  large  enough  to  squeeze  himself  through 
and  then  he  set  to  work  to  remove  the  logs  :  having 
done  this,  he  made  his  way  to  the  great  hall,  and 
there  he  again  saw  the  Giant  fast  asleep  in  his  chair. 
He  was  then  proceeding  towards  the  dungeon  in 
which  he  believed  his  father  was  confined,  when  he 
felt  his  coat  clutched  hold  of,  and  a  voice  cry  out, 
"  Ah,  I  've  got  you  !  "  It  was  the  Dwarf.  Jack  was 
indeed  frightened,  and  was  about  to  beg  of  the  Dwarf 
in  mercy  to  let  him  go,  when  the  little  creature  burst 
into  a  laugh,  and  said,  "  I  only  did  it  to  frighten  you  ; 
come  this  way,"  and  he  led  him  to  the  iron-grated 
door  of  one  of  the  cells,  which  was  partly  open,  and 


Jack  and  the  Bean-Stalk  89 

said,  "  I  managed  this  for  you — wait  till  I  fetch 
you  a  light,"  which  he  brought  and  said,  "  Follow 
me,"  and  led  the  way  down  a  narrow  winding  stair- 
case to  a  lower  chamber,  and  there  in  a  corner  upon 
some  straw  lay  a  fine-looking  man,  with  long  white 
hair  and  a  long  white  beard.  "  This  is  the  little  boy, 
Sir  Knight,"  said  the  Dwarf,  "  that  I  told  you  of." 
The  man  then  came  forward  dratrorino-  a  heavy  chain 
after  him,  and  said  to  Jack,  "  Who  are  you,  and  from 
whence  do  you  come?"  Jack  told  him  his  name  and 
that  of  his  mother  and  sister,  and  that  they  both  lived. 
It  was  Jack's  father,  who  then  embraced  him  most  af- 
fectionately, and  said,  "  My  dear,  dear  boy,  is  it  pos- 
sible that  you  have  come  to  save  me  ?  Can  you 
deliver  me  from  this  dungeon,  and  restore  me  to  my 
dear  wife  and  daughter"?  Jack  replied  that  he 
hoped  so,  and  instantly  brought  forth  the  iron  files  ; 
both  father  and  son  then  set  to  work  to  file  off  the 
chains,  whilst  the  good  little  Dwarf  held  the  light, 
and  took  the  opportunity  to  explain  to  Jack  why  he 
called  out  when  he  was  taking  the  Hen  and  Harp 
away.  He  was,  he  said,  appointed  by  the  Giant  to 
watch  those  treasures,  and  to  give  the  alarm  if  he 


90         Jack  and  the  Bean-Stalk 

saw  anyone  attempting  to  take  them  away  :  this  he 
had  done,  but  he  was  glad  that  Jack  had  got  clear 
off;  though,  he  said,  it  was  good  fun  to  see  how 
frightened  they  were,  and  it  was  also  good  fun  to  see 
the  Giant  in  such  a  passion.  The  chains  were  re- 
moved. Jack  and  his  father  hastened  out  into  the 
court-yard,  and  both  succeeded,  after  some  difficulty, 
in  getting  outside  the  walls.  They  wanted  the  Dwarf 
to  go  with  them,  but  he  replied  that  he  must  stop  to 
give  the  alarm,  but  told  them  he  would  let  them 
have  time  enough  to  have  a  good  start,  and  then, 
said  he,  "Oh!  won't  the  Giant  be  after  you  in  a 
rage  !  "  and  chuckled  and  grinned  at  what  he  seemed 
to  think  would  be  good  fun.  Father  and  son  set  off, 
but  Jack's  father  had  been  a  close  prisoner  for  so 
many  years  that  he  seemed  almost  to  have  lost  the 
use  of  his  legs ;  however,  on  they  went,  but  soon 
heard  the  Giant  roaring  after  them.  They  had  now 
reached  the  snow-topped  hills — a  little  more,  and  they 
were  safe :  but  the  Giant  was  close  upon  them  ;  it 
seemed  almost  impossible  to  escape.  When,  at  a 
turn  of  their  road,  in  looking  back,  they  saw  indeed, 
an  extraordinary  sight — nothing  less  than  a  shower 


Jack  and  the  Bean-Stalk  91 

of  snowballs,  pelting  away  at  the  Giant's  head  and 
face,  so  that  he  could  neither  see  nor  get  forward,  for 
every  instant  dab  came  a  snowball  in  one  eye — dab 
came  another  in  his  mouth — bang  came  one  upon  his 
nose — then  all  over  his  head  and  ears — such  a  shower  ! 
— and  he  fighting  against  them  with  his  hand  and 
his  great  club.  It  was  a  funny  sight,  and  the  little 
Dwarf  would  indeed  have  laughed  outright  could  he 
have  seen  it.  Jack  and  his  father  could  not  help 
laughing  at  it  themselves,  but  they  did  not  stop  to 
see  how  the  fight  went  on,  but  hastened  to  the  Bean- 
stalk. 

Jack  had  told  his  father  about  this  wonderful  bean- 
stalk ladder,  so  the  father  was  somewhat  prepared  ; 
and  when  he  saw  Jack  descending,  he  did  not  hesitate 
to  follow.  Down,  down,  down,  they  went,  and  in  a 
short  time  the  husband  was  clasping  his  long-lost 
wife  and  daughter  in  his  arms.  Oh,  it  was  a  scene 
of  happiness  and  delight.  The  Golden  Hen  flapped 
her  wings  and  tried  to  crow,  but  only  went  "  Took-a- 
rook-took  "  and  "  Cluck,  cluck  "  ;  but  the  Harp  struck 
up  a  merry  tune,  and  at  this  moment  the  Garden 
Fairy  appeared,  and  was  hailed  by  them  all  as  their 


92  Jack  and  the  Bean-Stalk 

best  and  dearest  friend.  But  whilst  they  were  all  in 
this  delightful  state,  the  Garden  Fairy  said, — "  All  is 
not  yet  finished  ;  here  comes  the  Giant ; "  and  upon 
their  looking  up,  sure  enough  this  monster  was  seen 
slipping  down  the  Bean-stalk,  which  appeared  against 
his  great  size  to  be  a  mere  thread.  "  Fear  not,"  she 
said  ;  "  he  shall  not  harm  you.  Come,  sisters,  sing  a 
charm  around  the  stalk,  and  let  us  fix  him  there  !  " 
Accordingly,  the  Hen,  the  Harp,  and  the  Flower 
Fairy  flew  around  the  bean-stalk,  singing  : 

'*  Bean,  bean, 
All  so  green, 
Though  your  power 
Be  not  seen — 
Use  all  your  might 
To  serve  the  Giant  right, 
Bind  him  fast  by  day, 
And  bind  his  feet  by  night." 

Down  came  the  Giant,  snorting  away ;  but  when 
he  got  near  the  ground,  so  that  he  thought  he  could 
jump  down,  the  Bean-stalk  twisted  itself  around  his 
ankles,  and  his  legs,  and  his  arms,  and  his  body,  and 
twined  into  his  hair,  so  that  he  found  himself  as 
firmly  fixed  as  if  he  had  been  bound  with  the  strong- 
est cords  and  chains.     He  fought,  and  kicked,  and 


93 


Jack  and  the  Bean-Stalk         95 

struggled,  but  all  in  vain  ;  his  eyes  flashed  like  two 
coals  of  fire.  He  ground  his  great,  ugly,  sharp  teeth 
together.  He  shook  his  great  fist  at  Jack,  who  was 
standing  upon  a  piece  of  rock,  laughing.  He  roared 
out  at  him,  and  threatened  to  kill  him  and  eat  him  ; 
but  Jack  only  laughed  the  more  with  a  loud  "  Ha ! 
ha !  ha  ! "  and  **  I  smell  fresh  meat,  ha  !  ha  !  ha  ! "  and 
the  Flower  Fairy  laughed,  "Ha!  ha!"  with  her 
silvery  voice ;  and  the  Golden  Hen  cried  "  Took-a- 
rook-took-a-rook  "  ;  and  the  Harp,  going  almost  close 
to  his  ear,  went  "Twang,  twang,  twang." 

They  all  now  retired  to  the  cottage,  leaving  the 
Giant  to  cool  his  rage,  tied  up  tight  in  the  Bean- 
stalk, which  had  now  covered  him  up  so  completely 
that  he  looked  like  "  Jack-in-green  "  on  May-day. 

Jack's  father  sent  him  to  inform  the  chief  man  of 
the  village  of  what  had  taken  place,  namely,  his  own 
release  from  captivity,  and  the  extraordinary  capture 
of  the  great  Danish  Giant  ;  begging  that  he  would 
send  a  number  of  men  up  in  the  morning  to  secure 
him.  The  news  soon  spread  about  the  village  and 
valley,  and,  early  in  the  morning,  the  whole  popula- 
tion of  the  place  were  up  at  the  Bean-stalk  to  behold 


96         Jack  and  the  Bean-Stalk 

this  wonderful  sight.  They  were  all  armed  with 
some  kind  of  weapon — swords,  spears,  bows  and 
arrows,  scythes,  bill-hooks,  etc.  ;  but  there  was  no 
occasion  to  use  them,  for  the  Bean-stalk  gently  let 
the  Giant  down  to  the  ground,  holding  him  fast  all 
the  time,  until  the  people  bound  his  hands  behind 
his  back,  and  tied  strong  cords  round  his  ankles. 
Besides,  this  great  savage  monster  not  having  had 
any  food  for  very  many  hours,  and,  naturally  being  a 
great  coward — as  all  cruel  people  are — and  besides, 
being  now  quite  sober,  he  begged  hard  for  mercy  to 
himself,  though  he  had  never  shown  it  to  others. 

The  next  day,  Sir  Ethelbert  having  procured  a 
large  ship,  there  was  quite  a  procession  down  to  the 
beach  ;  and  having  got  the  Giant  safe  on  board,  and 
having  had  him  well  secured,  Jack's  father  and 
mother  and  sister  went  on  board  also  ;  and,  with  a 
strong  body  of  men  to  guard  the  Giant,  they  sailed 
round  the  coast  towards  Sir  Ethelbert's  castle,  and 
after  a  short  voyage  they  landed,  and  marched  up  to 
take  possession  of  it. 

As  they  drew  near,  the  Knight  was  surprised  to 
see  a  banner  waving  from  the   top  of  the  keep  or 


Jack  and  the  Bean-Stalk         97 

strong  tower ;  which  banner  he  soon  discerned  to  be 
Kinor  Alfred's  !  This  was,  indeed,  a  stranore  circum- 
stance  ;  but  it  turned  out  that  the  King  had  been 
successful  in  defeating  a  Danish  army  in  that  part  of 
the  country,  and  having  heard  that  a  Danish  Giant 
had  taken  possession  of  his  old  friend  Sir  Ethelbert's 
castle,  and  held  him  prisoner  there,  he  came  to 
besiege  it,  and  release  his  friend ;  and  was  sur- 
prised to  find  the  only  inmates  to  be  a  Giantess,  a 
Dwarf,  and  a  few  of  the  Knio-ht's  relations  and 
retainers,  prisoners  in  the  dungeons.  The  Knight 
found  King  Alfred  seated  with  his  warriors  in  the 
great  hall  ;  and  having  given  him  the  particulars  of 
this  strange  history,  particularly  how  bravely,  and 
how  wisely,  his  son  Jack  had  behaved  in  rescuing 
him  from  prison,  he  brought  him  out  into  the  court- 
yard to  see  the  Giant,  and  also  to  present  little  Jack 
to  his  Majesty.  They  had  made  the  Giant  crawl 
upon  his  knees  through  the  gateway,  and  he  now 
stood  up  before  the  entrance  of  the  great  tower,  but 
to  insure  the  safety  of  the  King  and  everyone  else, 
the  soldiers,  with  their  spears,  were  drawn  up  all 
round   the   yard  ;    and   archers   had    their   bows   and 


98         Jack  and  the  Bean-Stalk 

arrows  ready  to  shoot,  if  they  saw  the  least  disposi- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  Giant  to  break  loose.  The 
King's  huntsmen  had  also  large  fierce  dogs,  ready  to 
let  slip  in  case  of  need.  Jack  had  hold  of  a  strong 
cord  that  was  fastened  to  the  Giant's  leg ;  and 
when  he  saw  the  King  come  forth  he  knelt  down, 
bowed,  and  delivered  the  Giant  into  the  custody  of 
his  Majesty's  guards. 

The  King  was  much  pleased  with  Jack,  and  sur- 
prised  that  such  a  little  fellow  should  have  achieved 
so  much  and  so  well,  and  eivino-  him  a  handsome 
jewel  as  a  mark  of  his  regard,  desired  that  when  he 
was  a  little  older,  he  would  come  to  the  court  and  be 
one  of  his  pages.  A  Council  was  then  held  as  to 
what  was  to  be  done  with  the  Giant — whether  he 
was  to  be  killed  or  kept  prisoner.  Jack's  mother, 
out  of  gratitude  to  the  Giantess  for  having  saved  her 
life  and  the  lives  of  her  children,  and  indeed,  as 
it  appeared,  her  husband's  life  also,  prayed  the  King 
to  spare   the   Giant's  life. 

King  Alfred  granted  her  petition,  and  being  a  wise 
King,  he  determined  to  turn  such  great  strength  to 
some  useful  purpose,  and  therefore  placed  him  under 


I 


J&ck  brin^stjje- Giant  forUonq-lb  Kl 


Jack  and  the  Bean-Stalk       loi 

guard  in  the  royal  quarries,  to  hew  out  great  stones 
for  building  royal  and  public  places.  The  Giant's 
wife  was  allowed  to  live  with  him,  and  as  he  never 
had  any  intoxicating  liquor  to  get  tipsy  with,  he 
never  beat  or  ill-used  her  any  more,  and  they  lived 
happily  for  many  years. 

After  Jack's  father  and  mother  got  settled,  and 
the  castle  put  in  order,  the  Flower  Fairy,  the  Hen, 
and  the  Harp  lent  their  aid  to  make  it  one  of  the 
happiest  of  homes — a  happiness  more  felt  in  contrast 
to  the  adversity  they  had  suffered. 

On  the  evening  of  the  day  before  Jack's  father, 
mother,  sister,  and  himself,  left  the  valley  with  the 
Giant,  his  father  gave  a  great  feast  to  all  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  place,  to  pay  for  which  the  Golden  Hen 
was  so  good  as  to  lay,  on  that  morning,  an  extraordi- 
nary number  of  golden  eggs,  which  found  a  ready 
market.  The  Garden  Fairy  had  told  Jack,  privately, 
that  she  and  her  sisters  were  going  up  the  Bean-stalk 
that  evening,  in  order  to  be  at  the  castle  to  receive 
the  family  ;  and  that,  after  they  had  made  their 
ascent,  something  would  happen  to  the  Bean-stalk, 
as  soon    as    it    was    dark,  that    would    astonish    and 


I02        Jack  and  the  Bean-Stalk 

amuse  the  family  and  their  guests.  Jack  informed 
his  father  of  this,  who  told  the  people  to  remain  with 
them  till  after  the  close  of  day,  as  he  expected  some- 
thing curious  and  surprising  would  happen  to  the 
Bean-stalk.  Accordingly  they  all  gathered  round  it ; 
and,  after  waiting  until  it  was  dark,  they  s^v  the 
lower  part  of  the  Bean-stalk  on  fire,  showing  all 
manner  of  beautiful  colours  :  this  extended  up  the 
whole  of  the  stalk  ;  and,  as  it  was  a  clear,  cloudless 
night  they  could  see  up  to  the  very  top  of  it.  The 
beans,  which  were  growing  upon  the  stalk  in  great 
numbers,  then  exploded  with  loud  reports,  like  can- 
nons. After  this  had  gone  on  for  a  considerable  time, 
to  the  great  astonishment  and  delight  of  all  the  peo- 
ple (more  particularly  to  Master  Jack),  there  seemed 
to  run  up  from  the  root  a  dazzling,  bright  flame,  fol- 
lowed by  an  explosion  like  thunder,  that  echoed 
amongst  the  hills  far  and  near,  for  a  long  while,  ac- 
companied by  a  shower  of  fire  that  nearly  covered  the 
whole  of  the  valley  ;  then  all  was  dark,  and  the  BEAN- 
STALK had  disappeared  entirely.  Such  a  wonderful 
Bean-stalk  as  tliis  had  never  been  seen  before  ;  and 
there  has  never  been  one  like  it  seen  since  ;  and  it  is 


Jack  and  the  Bean-Stalk        103 

not  very  likely  that   such   a  one   will   ever  be    seen 
again. 

And  thus  ends  the  story  of 

JACK  AND  THE  BEAN-STALK. 


-i^t^ 


i 


Hop-O'-My-Thumb 

and 

The  Seven-League  Boots. 


105 


I07 


Hop-O'-My-Thumb 

and 

The  Seven-League  Boots. 


NCE  upon  a  time  there  was  a  cer- 
tain Count,  who  possessed  many 
castles  and  large  domains.  He 
was  a  very  good  man,  but,  unfor- 
tunately, he  had  some  very  bad 
companions,  who  led  him  into  drinking  habits,  card- 
playing,  betting  on  horse-races,  and  all  sorts  of  foolish 
gambling ;  and  these  bad  men,  by  these  means,  got 
all  his  money  from  him.  So  he  was  obliged  to  sell 
one  estate  after  another  until  all  his  property  was 
gone.  When  he  was  reduced  to  extreme  poverty,  all 
his  evil  companions  left  him  ;  and  as  he  had  never 
been  taught  any  trade  or  business,  he  was  compelled 
to  cut  wood  in  the  forest  to  get  food  for  his  wife  and 

log 


I  lo  Hop-O'-My-Thumb 

his  children.  The  Countess,  his  wife,  was  a  dear, 
good  lady,  and  did  all  she  could  to  make  him  and 
her  children  happy  and  comfortable  ;  but  she  found 
it  a  difficult  matter  to  do  this,  for  what  the  Count 
earned  was  very  little,  and  the  greater  part  of  that  he 
spent  in  buying  strong  drink — of  which  he  used  to 
take  a  great  deal  too  much — so  that  he  was  very 
often  tipsy  ;  this  was  one  of  the  bad  habits  he  had 
learnt  of  his  bad  companions.  They  had  six  child- 
ren— all  boys  ;  but  one  of  them  was  such  a  very  lit- 
tle fellow  that  he  could  hide  himself  in  his  father's 
shoe,  and  they  called  him,  "  Hop-o'-my-Thumb,"  or 
sometimes  "little  Hop."  He  was  at  this  time  about 
seven  or  eight  years  old,  with  an  extraordinary  sweet- 
ness of  disposition  or  good  temper,  which  is  a  great 
blessing  for  anybody  to  have,  and  he  possessed  a  de- 
gree of  intelligence  much  beyond  his  age  ;  and  his 
strength  and  activity  were  also  surprising,  considering 
the  smallness  of  his  size.  He  used  to  try,  by  the 
most  affectionate  attentions,  and  by  playing  all  sorts 
of  funny  pranks,  to  soothe  the  gloomy  hours  which 
his  father  passed  in  reflecting  upon  his  former  foolish 
conduct,  that   had  brought  himself  and  his  family  to 


Hop-O'-My-Thumb  1 1 1 

such  distress,  for  they  were  sometimes  almost  starved 
for  want  of  food.  And  matters  orew  worse  and  worse 
with  them  every  day — for  it  so  happened  at  this  time 
that  there  was  a  famine  in  the  land,  and  the  father, 
instead  of  trusting  in  Providence,  and  exerting  him- 
self to  do  something  to  relieve  his  family  from  their 
miserable  condition,  gave  way  to  despondency,  and 
still  kept  on  drinking  and  smoking  ;  whilst  the  money 
that  he  spent  in  the  drink  that  made  him  tipsy,  and 
on  the  nasty  tobacco  which  he  smoked,  would  have 
bought  bread  enough  for  his  family  to  live  upon. 

The  dear  mother  had  brought  up  her  boys  to  go 
to  bed  early,  which  they  all  did,  like  good  children, 
without  any  grumbling  or  crying,  little  Hop-o'-my- 
Thumb  always  being  the  first  to  say,  "  I'  m  ready  to 
go  to  bed,  mother";  but  before  he  did  so  he  would 
play  some  droll  tricks  to  amuse  his  dear  mother  and 
his  five  brothers,  which  made  them  all  laugh  even  if 
they  had  no  supper.  One  night,  after  they  had  said 
their  prayers,  and  she  had  put  them  to  bed  (and 
when,  as  she  thought,  they  were  all  asleep),  the 
father  came  home  and  sat  down  by  the  side  of  his 
wife  before  the  fire,  and  then  bejjan  to  tell  her  all  the 


1 1 2  Hop-O'-My-Thumb 

news  about  the  scarcity  of  all  sorts  of  food,  and  that 
he  was  unable  any  longer  to  get  bread  either  for 
themselves  or  the  children,  and  that  they  must, 
therefore,  all  starve  to  death.  There  was,  to  be  sure, 
just  enough  for  her  and  himself  for  a  couple  of  days, 
but  there  was  none  for  the  boys  ;  and  as  it  would 
be  a  shocking  sight  to  see  them  all  starving,  he 
proposed  to  his  wife  that  they  should  take  the  child- 
ren out  with  them  in  the  morning  when  he  went  to 
cut  fuel,  and  that  they  should  leave  the  children  in 
the  trreat  forest. 

"  No,  indeed,"  cried  the  tender  mother  ;  "  I  shall 
do  no  such  thing  !  If  the  poor  dear  children  are  to 
die,  I  will  die  with  them."  But  the  father  insisted 
that  it  should  be  done,  got  quite  angry,  and  talked 
so  loud  that  he  woke  little  Hop-o'-my-Thumb.  who 
was  a  very  light  sleeper,  so  he  sat  up  in  bed  and 
heard  all  the  talk  ;  and  after  a  great  deal  of  crying 
and  opposition,  the  mother  at  last  consented ;  for 
she  saw  that  the  Count  had  been  drinking,  and  she 
knew  it  was  of  no  use  arguing  with  him  when  he 
was  in  that  state,  for  he  did  not  know  what  he  was 
about  ;  so,  although   she  consented,  she  thou<^ht  in 


Hop-O'-My-Thumb  1 1 3 

her  own  mind  that  she  would  mark  the  road  and  go 
back  herself,  and  take  them  to  some  place  where  she 
would  beg  the  people  to  keep  them  for  charity  until 
times  got  better,  and  then  she  could  pay  for  their 
board  and  bring  them  home,  and  surprise  and  delight 
their  father. 

Hop-o'-my-Thumb,  who  had  heard  all  the  talk  about 
leaving  him  and  his  brothers  in  the  forest,  immedi- 
ately thought  of  a  plan  whereby  he  should  be  able  to 
find  his  way  back,  and  return  home  again  with  his 
brothers  ;  he,  therefore,  got  up  before  the  dawn  of 
day,  and  went  to  a  brook  that  was  close  by  the  hut, 
and  there  he  filled  his  pockets  with  little  white 
pebbles,  returned  to  the  house  again,  and  crept  into 
bed  before  his  parents  or  his  brothers  were  awake. 
However,  not  long  after  they  all  awoke  and  got  up, 
and  washed  themselves  in  cold  water  (which  they  did 
winter  and  summer,  because  it  is  most  refreshing  and 
healthy  to  do  so)  ;  and  when  they  had  said  their 
prayers,  they  sat  down  to  a  scanty  breakfast.  The 
Countess  was  in  very  low  spirits,  although  she  bad 
determined  in  her  own  mind  to  take  care  that  the 
boys  should  come   to    no    harm  ;  yet  she   anxiously 

8 


1 14  Hop-O'-My-Thumb 

watched  her  husband,  in  the  hope  that  when  he  had 
quite  recovered  himself,  he  would  give  up  the  horrid 
notion  of  losing  the  children  ;  but  he  had  drunk  so 
much  the  night  before  that  he  was  not  yet  quite 
sober,  but  seemed  to  be  in  a  desperate  mood,  which 
he  kept  up  by  taking  a  little  more  strong  drink  out 
of  a  bottle  that  he  had  spent  his  last  penny  to  buy. 
But  he  did  not  eat  any  breakfast  ;  for  people  who 
get  tipsy  cannot  take  much  food,  so  they  soon  get  ill 
and  die.  After  the  Countess  and  the  boys  had 
taken  their  scanty  breakfast,  the  Count  put  on  his 
cap,  took  his  hatchet,  and  said,  in  a  surly  tone, 
"  Come  along,  let  us  go  to  work  !  "  They  all  used 
to  help  the  Count  in  his  labour  by  gathering  up  the 
sticks  that  he  cut  away  with  his  axe,  and  making 
them  up  into  bundles,  Hop-o'-my-Thumb  as  well  as 
the  other  boys,  but  they  all  used  to  laugh  at  the 
little  tiny  bundles  that  little  Hop  made  ;  but 
although  he  did  not  do  much  himself,  he  used  to 
lighten  their  work  by  singing  songs  and  telling  them 
funny  stories. 

When  they  were  all  ready  to  set  out,  the  Countess 
gave  each  of  them  a  little  bit  of  bread  to  put  in  their 


Hop-O'-My-Thumb  1 1 5 

pockets,  as  they  had  to  go  a  long  way  from  home, 
she  told  them.  They  then  set  out  on  their  journey 
to  the  great  forest ;  but,  as  they  went  along,  little 
Hop-o'-my  Thumb  took  care  to  drop  a  little  white 
pebble  at  different  places ;  and,  although  he  had  no 
doubt  but  he  should  find  his  way  back  by  these  means, 
nevertheless  he  also  took  notice  of  particular  trees, 
rocks,  and  streams  that  they  passed  ;  and  he  also  took 
care  to  mark  which  side  of  the  road  the  sun  was 
shining  upon  ;  as  he  knew  if  it  were  on  one  side  in 
the  morning,  it  would  be  on  the  opposite  side  in  the 
evening. 

At  length  they  entered  the  wood,  and  the  father 
began  chopping  away,  and  the  Countess  and  the 
children  gathering  and  binding.  The  Count  kept  his 
wife  close  by  him  all  the  time,  in  order  that  they 
might  be  ready  to  set  off  the  first  opportunity  ;  but 
whenever  he  was  about  to  steal  away,  he  always  found 
that  little  Hop  was  alongside  of  him.  So,  in  order 
to  get  rid  of  Master  Hop,  he  told  the  boys  they  might 
leave  off  work  for  a  little  while,  and  have  a  bit  of 
play  ;  and  he  proposed  that  they  should  join  hands 
and  form  a  ring,  and  put  little  Hop  in  the  middle  and 


ii6  Hop-O'-My-Thumb 

dance  round  him.  The  boys  were  all  delighted  with 
this  game  except  little  Thumb,  who  tried  hard  to  get 
out  of  the  ring,  but  his  brothers  would  not  let  him  ; 
and  thus,  while  they  were  all  dancing  and  shouting, 
the  Count  took  the  opportunity  of  slipping  away, 
dragging  the  Countess  along  with  him.  The  poor 
mother,  although  she  had  determined  to  go  back  for 
the  children,  was,  nevertheless,  fearful  that  they  might 
be  lost  or  come  to  some  harm.  So  she  began  to  cry, 
and  beg  of  her  husband  to  let  her  go  back  to  the 
children  ;  but  he  had  been  draining  his  bottle,  and 
only  gave  her  harsh  words,  and  made  her  go  on 
quickly  in  order  that  they  might  get  entirely  away 
from  the  children. 

Little  Hop-o'-my-Thumb's  brothers  kept  on  dan- 
cing away  until  they  were  tired  and  out  of  breath,  and 
then  they  all  sat  down  to  rest  themselves.  But  when 
they  looked  round  and  could  not  see  either  their 
father  or  mother,  they  jumped  up  and  ran  about  to 
look  for  them  ;  but  little  Hop  stood  where  he  was, 
for  he  had  noticed  which  way  his  parents  had  gone 
off.  But,  oh  !  when  his  brothers  could  not  find  their 
parents  anywhere,  they  all  looked  at  one  another,  and 


Hop'O'-My-Thumb  1 1 7 

said.  "  Oh,  dear,  we  are  lost !  oh,  dear,  where's  father 
and  mother?  What  shall  we  do?"  and  they  set  up 
such  a  cry,  and  came  back  to  the  place  where  little 
Hop  was,  who  told  them  that  instead  of  crying  they 
ought  to  try  what  they  could  do  to  get  out  of  the 
wood  ;  and  if  they  would  help  him  to  do  so  by  carry- 
ing him,  he  thought  he  could  show  them  the  road 
home.  So  they  left  off  crying,  and  the  biggest  boy 
took  little  Hop  up  in  his  arms  and  carried  him  ;  and 
then  Master  Hop-o'-my-Thumb  directed  him  which 
way  to  go,  for  he  had  noticed  particular  trees,  and 
had  marked  others  with  his  knife.*  So  they  soon 
got  clear  of  the  wood  ;  and  then  Hop  told  his 
brothers  to  set  him  on  the  ground,  and  then  the  first 
thing  that  he  did  was  to  see  whereabouts  the  sun  was  ; 
althouo^h  it  was  notshinino-  out  at  that  time,  he  could 
tell  in  what  direction  it  was  ;  and,  as  he  beo-an  to  feel 
hungry,  he  knew  that  it  was  about  twelve  o'clock,  that 
being  their  usual  dinner-hour,  but  he  could  also  pretty 
well  tell  the  time  by  the  height  of  the  sun. 

Hop    next    began    to    look    for   one  of  the  white 

♦This  is  what  the  Indians  do, — they  notch  the  trees  and  so  tind  their   way 
through  the  largest  forests. 


ii8  Hop-O'-My-Thumb 

pebbles,  and  having  found  one,  he  called  out  to  his 
brothers  to  come  along ;  and  on  he  went,  leading 
the  way.  And  at  last,  by  the  aid  of  the  pebbles  and 
the  observations  he  had  made  in  the  morning,  he 
had  brought  them  nearly  half  the  way  home  ;  when, 
as  they  were  passing  a  steep  bank  by  the  side  of  a 
hill,  they  heard  a  voice  calling  loudly  to  them,  and 
upon  looking  up  they  saw  somebody  coming  down 
hastily  towards  them, — it  was  their  mother !  At 
first  they  all  screamed,  "Oh,  here's  mother!"  and 
then  set  off  as  fast  as  they  could  to  meet  her,  and 
in  the  hurry  pushed  over  poor  little  Hop-o'-my- 
Thumb  ;  but  he  was  up  in  a  minute,  and  ran  after 
his  brothers  as  fast  as  his  little  legs  could  carry 
him. 

"  Oh,  my  dear  boys  ! "  the  Countess  exclaimed  ; 
"  and  have  I  found  you  ?  Come  to  my  arms,  my 
little  darlings!"  and  then  she  began  to  cry,  and 
then  the  children  began  to  cry,  and  they  all  had  a 
good  cry  together.  She  then  took  up  her  dear  little 
Hoppy,  as  she  called  him,  in  her  arms,  and  said, 
"  Come,  dears,  let  us  make  haste  home.  You  mLSt 
be  very  hungry  ;   and   I  hope   by  the  time  we  get 


Hop-O'-My-Thumb  1 19 

back,  there  will  be  some  nice  food  for  you  ;  for  your 
father  has  been  sent  for  by  a  rich  farmer  in  the 
neighbourhood  to  do  some  writing  for  him,  and  he  is 
to  bring  back  a  large  basket  of  provisions."  And  as 
they  were  trudging  along,  whom  should  they  see  com- 
ing to  meet  them  but  the  Count,  their  father,  who, 
with  tears  in  his  eyes,  embraced  all  the  children  ;  and 
after  embracing  his  wife,  he  took  little  Hop  from 
her  and  put  him  on  his  shoulder.  They  soon  got 
home,  and  they  had  a  good,  hearty  supper  that  night, 
and  were  all  very  happy, — not  that  much  eating  at 
supper  is  good  generally,  but  not  having  had  any 
dinner,  it  was  all  very  well  in  such  a  case. 

All  the  boys  were  glad  to  get  to  bed,  they  being, 
as  you  may  suppose,  thoroughly  tired  out,  and  were 
soon  fast  asleep,  except  little  Hop,  who,  although 
very  sleepy  and  tired,  tried  hard  to  keep  awake  to 
hear  what  his  father  and  mother  would  say.  And 
he  soon  began  to  understand  that  his  mother  never 
intended  to  leave  them  to  perish  in  the  wood  ;  for 
she  pointed  out  to  his  father  the  horrible  cruelty  of 
deserting  the  children  in  this  way,  and  also  the 
wickedness  in  spending  money  in  drink  and  tobacco 


1 20  Hop-O'-My-Thumb 

that  would  buy  bread,  and  also  the  sin  of  getting 
tipsy,  so  that  he  was  not  able  to  work  properly  for 
their  support. 

The  father  was  very  sorry  for  what  he  had  done, 
and  seemed  quite  heart-broken  ;  and  then  the  dear, 
good  Countess  began  to  comfort  him,  and  they  both 
knelt  down  and  prayed  together,  little  Hop  joining  in 
their  prayers.  And  when  he  heard  the  deep  sobs 
of  repentance  of  his  father,  mingled  with  the  sobs 
and  thankfulness  of  his  mother,  his  little  tears  rolled 
down  his  tiny  cheeks  upon  his  pillow  until  he  went 
off  into  a  quiet  and  refreshing  sleep. 

After  this  they  lived  very  comfortably  for  some 
time,  for  the  rich  farmer  employed  the  Count  to  do  a 
great  deal  of  writing  for  him,  as  he  was  engaged  in  a 
lawsuit,  and  the  Count  entirely  left  off  his  drinking 
habits.  This  made  the  Countess  very  happy  ;  and 
she  had  now  such  confidence  in  her  husband  that  she 
thouofht  she  could  leave  the  children  In  his  care  with 
safety  ;  and  that  she  could  now  set  out  on  a  journey 
she  had  long  wished  to  take,  to  seek  out  a  brother  of 
hers  who  was  a  rich  Baron,  and  whom  she  had  not 
seen  or  heard  of  for  many  years,  as  he  had  been  in 


Hop-O'-My-Thumb  121 

the  wars  in  foreign  countries.  And  she  was  anxious 
to  find  her  brother,  the  Baron,  as  she  knew  he  would 
take  them  out  of  their  poverty,  educate  her  boys,  and 
put  them  in  a  way  of  getting  an  honest  and  respect- 
able livelihood.  Having  saved  up  a  little  money,  she 
packed  up  her  Sunday  clothes  in  a  bundle,  put  some 
bread  and  cheese  in  a  basket,  and  kissing  all  the  child- 
ren and  bidding  them  to  be  good  boys  until  her 
return,  she  set  out  upon  her  journey,  the  Count  ac- 
companying her  a  little  way  on  the  road.  After  the 
Count  had  taken  an  affectionate  farewell  of  the  Count- 
ess, and  wished  her  a  safe  journey  and  a  successful 
one,  he  turned  to  go  to  his  hut  and  his  children  ;  but 
on  the  road  he  unfortunately  met  with  one  of  his 
former  drinking  companions,  who  prevailed  upon  him, 
after  a  great  deal  of  persuading,  to  go  into  an  ale- 
house just  to  have  one  glass,  which  he  had  no  sooner 
taken  than  he  forgot  all  his  promises  to  the  Countess 
not  to  take  strong  drink.  And  after  getting  quite 
tipsy  that  night,  he  went  on,  day  after  day,  in  the  old 
bad  way,  so  that  he  did  not  know  what  he  was  about, 
and  the  farmer  would  not  give  him  any  more  writing 
to  do  ;  so  he  fell  into  greater  distress  than  ever,  for 


122  Hop-O -My-Thumb 

the  dear,  clever  Countess  was  not  there  to  manage  his 
domestic  affairs. 

Well,  one  night  he  came  home  late  in  a  terrible 
state ;  knocked  the  stools  and  the  table  over,  and 
frightened  little  Hop  and  his  brothers  very  much. 
And  in  the  morning  he  made  the  children  get  up  very 
early,  and  told  them  they  must  go  to  work  in  the 
forest  again  :  this  frightened  all  the  boys  except  little 
Hop,  who  thought  that  if  his  father  left  them  again,  he 
should  be  able  to  find  his  way  back  in  the  same  way 
as  he  did  before  ;  for  they  recollected  how  they  had 
been  lost  in  the  forest,  to  which  place  they  had  never 
been  since  that  time.  Poor  little  Hop  was  about  to 
slip  out  to  the  brook  to  get  some  white  pebbles,  as 
before  ;  but  his  father  called  him  back,  and  bade  him 
and  his  brothers  take  their  share  of  the  last  loaf  for 
their  breakfast.  The  boys  ate  their  bread  very  sor- 
rowfully ;  but  Hop  did  not  eat  all  his,  for  he  thought 
that  he  would  drop  bits  of  bread  instead  of  pebbles. 

The  Count  now  took  a  different  road  to  the  forest 
than  he  had  done  the  last  time,  and  a  longer  way 
about ;  so  that  when  they  arrived  in  a  thick  and 
shady  part  of  the  wood,  the  Count  said  they  might 


Hop-O'-My-Thumb  1 23 

sit  down  and  rest  themselves,  which  they  were  very 
glad  to  do  ;  and  little  Hop-o'-my-Thumb  was  so  tired, 
that  he  could  not  have  gone  on  any  farther,  for  the 
Count  had  made  him  walk  a  great  part  of  the  way ; 
but  he  had  taken  good  notice  again,  and  had  dropped 
bits  of  bread  as  he  came  along.  The  father  laid  him- 
self down  and  fell  asleep,  or  pretended  to  do  so  ;  and 
when  Hop  saw  his  father  fast  asleep,  as  he  thought, 
he  himself  lay  down  to  rest ;  but  he  and  his  brothers 
were  so  tired,  and  had  had  so  little  sleep  the  night  be- 
fore that  they  all  went  to  sleep  as  sound  as  tops.  This 
was  still  early  in  the  day  ;  and  when  they  awoke  the 
sun  was  high  up,  and  their  father  was  gone.  They 
would  have  given  way  to  grief  again  ;  but  as  Hop-o'- 
my-Thumb  had  shown  them  the  way  home  before, 
they  looked  to  him  to  do  the  same  again  ;  and  he 
said,  "  Come  along,  brothers  !  "  But  the  most  clever 
people  sometimes  meet  with  disappointments  ;  for 
the  clouds  had  quite  hidden  the  sun,  and  it  was  a 
long  time  before  they  could  get  out  of  the  wood. 
And  when  they  arrived  at  the  place  where  they  had 
entered,  little  Hop  found  that  the  birds  had  eaten  up 
the  crumbs  of  bread  which  he  had  dropped.       But 


1 24  Hop-O -My-Thumb 

although  he  had  a  Httle  heart,  it  was  a  brave  one,  and 
he  was  sure  he  should  recollect  the  trees  and  land- 
marks they  had  passed.  But  it  began  to  get  very 
dark,  and  as  it  was  a  cloudy  night,  he  did  not  know 
which  way  to  go.  If  the  moon  or  the  stars  could 
have  been  seen,  he  would  have  known  then  which 
way  to  go,  but  he  could  not  see  either.  He,  there 
fore,  looked  out  for  a  tall  tree,  which  he  asked  his 
eldest  brother  to  climb,  and  to  look  all  round  from 
the  top  to  see  if  he  could  discover  any  kind  of  build- 
ing, or  a  light  burning  anywhere.  So  the  brother 
got  up,  and  after  looking  first  one  way  and  then 
another,  he  cried  out  that  he  could  see  a  lii^ht,  which 
seemed  to  come  from  a  window.  Upon  which  little 
Hop  called  out  to  his  brother  to  break  or  cut  off  a 
small  branch,  and  throw  it  down  on  the  side  of  the 
tree  where  the  light  appeared.  This  was  done  ;  and 
when  the  brother  came  down,  he  took  up  Hop  on 
his  shoulder,  who  kept  his  eye  fixed  upon  some  trees 
in  the  direction  where  his  brother  said  the  lis^ht  was 
seen.  So,  after  a  tiresome  walk  over  the  rough 
ground,  and  being  terrified  by  the  howling  of  the 
wolves,  who  now  came  out  of  their  dens,  they  at  last 


Hop-O'-My-Thumb  125 

came  to  a  very  large  house ;  and  after  they  had 
knocked  several  times  on  the  o-reat  o-ate  with  a  laro^e 
stone,  it  was  opened  by  a  great  big  woman,  a  sort  of 
Giantess,  who  was  very  much  surprised  at  seeing  the 
children,  and  asked  them  what  they  wanted.  Upon 
which  Hop-o'-my-Thumb  told  her  that  they  were  the 
six  sons  of  a  Count,  and  having  lost  their  way,  they 
had  to  beg  for  a  little  food,  and  a  night's  lodging, 
upon  which  she  said  : 

"You  may  be  the  sons  of  a  Count,  but  I  can  only 
count  five  of  you  ;  so  I  think  you  must  have  lost 
your  wits  as  well  as  your  way." 

So  little  Hop  replied  : 

"  Oh,  yes,  ma'am,  there  are  six  of  us  ;  but  I  am  so 
small  that,  perhaps,  you  can't  see  me." 

"  See  you  !  "  she  cried  ;  "  why,  where  are  you  ?" 

"On  my  brother's  shoulder,  ma'am." 
So  the  Giantess  was  curious  to  see  the  little  body 
from  which  the  little  voice  came,  and  she  said  : 

"  Dear  me  !  come  into  the  light,  and  let  me  have  a 
look  at  you."  So  they  all  went  into  the  house,  and 
then  they  put  Hop-o'-my-Thumb  on  the  table.  Oh, 
such  a  big  table  !     And  then  the  Giantess  took  the 


1 26  Hop-O'-My-Thumb 

lamp  and  had  a  good  look  at  little  Hop,  and  seemed 
very  much  pleased  with  him  ;  so,  without  any  cere- 
mony. Hop  begged  she  would  be  so  kind  as  to  give 
them  something  to  eat,  for  that  they  were  all  dying 
with  hunger.  Now,  she  was  a  very  good-natured 
lady,  as  most  of  those  Giantesses  are,  and  gave  them 
some  food  directly,  and  told  them  to  make  haste  and 
eat  it  up, — which  they  would  have  done  without 
being  told,  for  if  they  were  hungry  before  they  came 
in,  they  were  more  so  afterwards,  as  they  could  smell 
that  meat  was  being  roasted.  So  soon  as  the  boys 
had  eaten  up  the  victuals,  the  Giantess  took  Hop  off 
the  table  and  gave  him  to  his  eldest  brother,  saying  : 
"  Now,  my  little  men,  you  had  better  run  away,  for 
you  must  not  stop  here  any  longer."  Upon  which 
little  Hop  begged  very  hard  that  they  might  be 
allowed  to  stop  until  the  morning,  if  it  was  only  in 
an  outhouse  or  barn,  as  they  were  afraid  of  the 
wolves.  Upon  which  she  began  to  sigh,  and  said  : 
"  Ah,  my  little  dears,  you  little  think  what  kind  of 
house  you  are  in  ;  but  I  must  tell  you  that  my  hus- 
band is  a  Giant-Ogre  ;  and  if  he  does  not  come 
home  tipsy,  he  is  sure  to  get  tipsy  after  his  supper, 


Hop-O'-My-Thumb  1 2  7 

and  then  he  '11  be  siire  to  kill  you  and  eat  you  up  ; 
whereas,  if  you  go  away,  you  may  by  chance  escape 
from  the  wolves."  But  all  the  boys  were  so  afraid 
to  go  into  the  dark  forest  where  the  wolves  were, 
and  felt  so  warm  and  comfortable  where  they  were, 
that  they  all  begged  and  prayed  of  her  to  let  them 
stay.  So,  as  she  was  such  a  good-natured  Giant- 
woman,  she  at  last  consented,  as  she  thought  she 
miofht  be  able  to  hide  the  children  from  her  hus- 
band,  who,  she  thought,  would  not  perhaps  smell 
them  out  in  consequence  of  the  smell  of  the  meat 
which  she  was  cooking  for  his  supper.  So  she  took 
them  into  the  kitchen,  where  they  were  surprised  to 
see  a  whole  sheep  roasting ;  and  showed  them  a  box 
that  stood  in  a  corner  of  the  kitchen,  and  told 
them  when  they  heard  a  knock  at  the  door  to  run 
and  hide  themselves  behind  the  box.  They  looked 
about,  but  as  they  could  not  see  anything  that 
looked  like  a  box,  little  Hop  asked  her  where  it 
was  ;  upon  which  she  showed  them  a  large,  square, 
wooden  thing  that  looked  almost  as  big  as  their 
father's  hut ;  but  you  must  understand  that  every- 
thing in  the   house, — tables,    stools,    plates,    dishes, 


128  Hop-O'-My-Thumb 

and  so  on, — were  of  a  very  large  size  ;  even  too  big 
for  the  Giantess,  who  was  obHgcd  to  use  a  small 
ladder  herself  to  get  the  plates  off  the  shelf ;  and  the 
dish  she  had  to  put  the  sheep  in  was  as  much  as  she 
could  lift,  and  the  gravy-spoon  was  as  big  as  a 
shovel.  While  she  was  busy  getting  all  ready  for 
the  Giant's  return,  the  boys  looked  about  in  wonder. 
By-and-by  they  heard  a  confused,  rumbling  sound, 
and  then  something  like  the  roaring  of  a  lion  ;  it 
was  the  Giant  singing  !  he  was  coming  home 
merr)^ ! 

"  Ah  !  "  said  the  Giantess,  "  he  has  had  something 
to  drink.  Run  and  hide  yourselves  !  "  And  they  had 
no  sooner  got  behind  the  great  box  than  a  knock 
came  at  the  door,  so  loud  that  it  quite  stunned  them  ; 
and  when  the  door  was  opened,  and  the  Ogre-Giant 
walked  in,  and  every  step  he  took  shook  the  house, 
big  and  strong  as  it  was  ;  it  made  all  the  little  fellows 
tremble.  As  soon  as  he  came  in  he  said,  in  a  loud, 
frightful  voice, 

"  Well,  wife,  what  have  you  got  for  supper  ?  some- 
thing nice  ?     It  smells  nice  !" 

•'  Here  it  is,"  she  said  ;   "it's  a  fine,  large  sheep!" 


i 


Hop-O'-My-Thumb  1 29 

"Ah  !  is  there  nothing  else?"  he  asked.  "  I  smell 
fresh  meat ! " 

"Oh!"  replied  his  wife,  "it's  the  calf  I've  just 
killed." 

With  this  answer  he  seemed  satisfied,  and  set  him- 
self down  to  supper.  By  this  time,  what  with  being 
over  tired,  having  had  a  hearty,  full  meal,  and  being 
very  warm,  Hop's  five  brothers  had  dropped  off  to 
sleep  ;  but  little  Hop,  although  very  sleepy  himself, 
was  curious  to  see  a  Giant-Ogre  eat.  The  sharpening 
of  his  knife,  which  was  at  big  as  a  sword,  was  some- 
thing fearful  to  behold.  He  then  cut  off  a  shoulder 
of  the  mutton,  and  gave  it  to  his  wife  for  her  supper, 
and  then  took  the  other  shoulder  himself,  which  he 
devoured  in  a  very  short  time  ;  and  then  one  leg,  and 
then  the  other  ;  and  then  ate  the  neck,  the  ribs,  and 
the  loin,  giving  his  wife  some  of  the  bones  to  pick. 
When  he  had  finished  eating,  he  filled  out  a  cup  that 
would  hold  about  two  gallons,  from  a  great  bottle 
that  he  had  been  drinking  from  every  now  and  then 
whilst  he  was  eating.  He  then  leaned  with  his  elbows 
on  the  table,  and  began  picking  his  teeth  with  a  fork, 
by  which  Hop-o'-my-Thumb  judged  that  the    Giant 


1 30  Hop-O'-My-Thumb 

was  not  a  gentleman.  Hop's  father  and  mother,  of 
course,  knew  good  manners,  and  had  taught  them 
to  their  children. 

As  the  wife  was  clearing  away  the  supper  things, 
the  Giant-Ogre  kept  on  drinking ;  and  just  as  little 
Hop  was  falling  asleep,  he  heard  the  Giant  taking 
long  sniffs,  and  at  last  he  cried  : — 

"  Wife,  I  know  there  is  something  else  in  the 
house  besides  the  calf.  I  smell  fresh  meat — some- 
thing delicate." 

"  Ah,  it  is  the  veal,  you  nlay  be  sure  :  it  is  very 
delicate  ! " 

But  without  noticing  what  she  said,  he  went  on 
taking  long  sniffs  again,  and  said  : — 

"  Fee,  faAv,  fum, 
I  smell  the  blood  of  an  Englishman  ; 
Let  him  be  alive,  or  let  him  be  dead, 
I  '11  grind  his  bones  to  make  my  bread  ! " 

And  with  that  he  took  his  great  knife  in  his  hand, 
and  went  smellincr  about  the  room,  till  he  came  to 
the  place  where  Hop  and  his  brothers  were,  hiding. 
The  noise  the  Giant  made  woke  them  all  up,  and  he 
cried  out  in  a  voice  like  the  roaring  of  a  bull  , 


Hop-O'-My-Thumb  1 3 1 

"  Come  out,  there  !  "  The  poor  frightened  boys 
crept  out  and  stood  trembling  before  him  ;  when  he 
saw  that  they  were  all  come  out  from  their  hiding- 
place,  he  sat  down  upon  the  box,  and  looking  round 
to  his  wife,  he  roared  out,  "  So,  this  is  the  way  you 
deceive  me  !  If  you  were  not  so  old  and  tough,  I 
would  eat  you  up  for  my  dinner  to-morrow  ! "  Upon 
which  she  burst  into  a  loud  laugh. 

"  Deceive  you,  indeed  !  "  she  said  ;  "  what  should  I 
deceive  you  for,  darling?  I  only  hid  them  for  a 
bit  of  fun  ;  I  knew  you  would  smell  them  out, 
and  I  thought  it  would  be  an  agreeable  surprise 
for  you." 

"Haw!  haw!"  laughed  the  Ogre;  "is  it  so? 
Let  us  have  a  look  at  them  "  ;  and  stooping  down, 
he  discovered  poor  little  Hop  for  the  first  time. 
"Why,  what  have  we  here  ?"  he  exclaimed,  as  he 
lifted  him  up  between  his  great  finger  and  thumb. 
"  Well,  this  zs  a  delicate  morsel  !  "  and  he  was  going 
to  pop  him  into  his  ugly  mouth,  that  looked  like  a 
great  coal-tub  ;  but  although  poor  Hop  was  dread- 
fully frightened,  he  did  not  lose  his  senses,  but  cried 
out  aloud  to  the  Ogre-Giant  for  mercy,  and  to  spare 


132  Hop-O'-My-Thumb 

him ;  and  the  brothers,  seeing  their  dear  little  Hop 
in  such  danger,  all  went  down  on  their  knees  and 
cried  out  to  the  Ogre  to  spare  their  little  brother. 
At  the  same  moment  his  wife  laid  her  hand  upon  his 
shoulder,  and  said  : 

"What  are  you  going  to  do?  You'll  spoil  all! 
You  've  had  a  good  supper,  ten  minutes  ago,  so  you 
cannot  be  hungry  already  ;  and  after  all  that  mutton 
you  would  not  be  able  to  taste  such  a  delicate  relish. 
Besides,  you  know  your  brothers  are  coming  here  to 
dine  with  you  the  day  after  to-morrow ;  and,  as  the 
children  are  very  thin,  I  intended  to  fatten  them  up 
and  make  them  into  a  pie  for  the  second  course,  and 
I  thought  your  brothers  would  be  amused  to  see  such 
a  little  chap  as  that  stuck  on  the  top  of  the  pie  ! " 

This  seemed  to  amuse  the  Ogre,  who  burst  into  a 
loud  laugh  at  the  idea  of  seeing  little  Hop  stuck  up 
outside  the  pie  ;  so,  after  taking  a  good  look  at  poor 
Hop,  and  pretending  to  snap  his  head  off,  he  put  him 
down,  and  told  his  wife  to  fatten  them  all  up  and  to 
make  a  nice  pie  ;  he  then  set  himself  down  again  to 
his  drink,  pleased  with  the  thought  of  having  a  nice 
relish  in  store  for  himself  and  his  friends.     The  Giant- 


'JlKtJk'ntO^rc  discovers  M®f)*@  wyniumls  i:.libBfdlhcKS 


133 


I 


I 


Hop-O'-My-Thumb  135 

ess  then  put  the  children  to  bed  in  a  sort  of  closet, 
saying  : 

"  There  !  you  would  stay,  when  I  told  you  what 
you  had  to  expect.  But  I  've  done  the  best  I  could 
for  you  ;  so  say  your  prayers,  and  go  to  sleep  "  ;  and 
she  then  burst  into  tears  and  left  the  room. 

Master  Hop  observed  that  she  did  not  fasten  the 
door  when  she  left  them,  and  he  had  taken  notice  as 
he  came  in  that  the  key  was  in  the  lock  on  the  out- 
side of  the  door.  Now,  like  good  boys,  they  said 
their  prayers,  as  the  Giantess  had  told  them  ;  but  as 
to  going  to  sleep,  that  was  out  of  the  question.  So 
little  Hop,  who  did  not  relish  the  idea  of  being  stuck 
up  as  an  ornament  on  the  top  of  a  pie,  told  his  broth- 
ers not  to  be  down-hearted,  but  to  lend  him  a  hand 
to  help  to  get  out  of  the  Giant's  house.  But  as  he 
thought  the  Giant  might  come  to  have  a  look  at  them 
before  he  went  to  bed,  he  told  them  to  jump  into  bed 
again  if  they  heard  him  coming,  and  pretend  to  be 
asleep.  In  a  short  time  they  heard  the  Ogre  stagger- 
ing along  the  passage,  which  shook  with  his  tread, 
upon  which  they  were  all  in  bed  in  an  instant.  The 
Giant,  with  a  lamp  in  his  hand,  stooped  down,  and 


136  Hop-O'-My-Thumb 

put  his  great  ugly  head  into  the  place  to  look  at 
them  ;  and  then  licking  his  chops,  he  shut  the  door 
and  locked  it.  The  sound  of  the  key  turning  in  the 
lock  of  the  door  was  terrible  to  the  ears  of  the  poor 
boys ;  and  they  began  to  sob,  thinking  they  \v«re 
now  doomed  to  the  horrible  fate  of  being  eaten  by 
Ogres.  But  Hop  told  them  to  cheer  up,  and  so  soon 
as  the  Giant  was  asleep  they  would  then  set  to  work 
to  try  and  get  out.  And  almost  before  he  had  done 
speaking  they  heard  a  most  fearful  noise,  as  if  there 
were  a  thousand  pigs  grunting  and  squeaking  all  at 
once, — it  was  the  Giant  snoring  !  Little  Hop  said  : 

"  Now,  then,  brothers,  I  am  going  to  creep  under 
the  door,  so  you  wait  quietly  until  I  come  back." 

Accordingly,  Hop  got  under  the  door  and  made 
his  way  to  where  he  heard  the  snoring ;  and  when  he 
got  to  the  Giant's  bedroom,  he  found,  to  his  great 
delight,  that  there  was  a  lamp  burning;  but,  never- 
theless, he  was  a  little  disappointed  to  find  that  the 
Giant,  although  fast  asleep,  held  the  key  that  Hop 
wanted  fast  in  his  hand.  The  Giant's  bed  was  nothing 
more  than  a  great  straw  mattress  on  the  ground, 
upon  which  he  lay  with  his  clothes  on.     Hop  looked 


Hop-O'-My-Thumb  137 

about  the  room,  and  he  found  a  long,  thin  piece  of 
stick,  which  was  almost  like  a  pole  to  him  ;  neverthe- 
less, with  the  end  of  this  he  managed  to  tickle  the 
tip  of  the  Giant's  nose,  who  let  go  the  key  that  he 
mio^ht  rub  his  nose  ;  and  as  soon  as  he  beg^an  to 
snore  again,  little  Hop  dragged  off  the  key,  which 
was  more  than  he  could  lift ;  and  having  got  it  to  the 
door  where  his  brothers  were,  he  pushed  it  under- 
neath and  crept  in  himself.  They  then  set  to,  to 
drag  the  bedclothes  and  place  them  against  the  door, 
and  by  climbing  up  the  clothes,  they  reached  the 
keyhole,  and  put  in  the  key.  They  had  hardly 
strength  enough  to  turn  it,  but  at  length  they  suc- 
ceeded in  unlocking  the  door. 

They  had  many  difficulties  to  get  over  beside  this, 
before  they  got  out  of  the  Giant's  house  altogether ; 
which,  however,  they  did  at  last,  and  glad  enough 
they  were  when  they  found  themselves  outside,  and 
the  moon  shining  as  bright  as  day.  Some  things 
are  impossible  to  do,  but  there  are  many  things 
which  at  first  seem  impossible,  but  which  may  be 
overcome  by  perseverance.  Hop-o'-my-Thumb  knew 
by  the  moon  in  which  direction  their  home  lay  ;  and 


138  Hop-O'-My-Thumb 

off  they  set  at  a  good  pace,  the  elder  brothers  carry- 
ing Hop  by  turns.  When  the  sun  rose  they  hap- 
pened to  be  on  the  top  of  a  hill,  from  whence  they 
could  see  the  part  of  the  country  where  their  father 
lived,  between  them  and  which  (in  the  valley)  was 
part  of  the  great  forest ;  so  Hop  said  they  had  better 
go  through  the  wood,  as  in  case  the  Giant  should 
come  after  them  he  would  not  be  able  to  see  them 
amongst  the  trees.  So  into  the  wood  they  went, 
and  had  hard  work  to  get  through  it ;  but  little  Hop 
brought  them  out  at  last  and  showed  them  the  road 
home,  at  which  they  were  all  pleased,  and  jumped 
for  joy,  and  on  they  trudged  again. 

When  the  Giant's  wife  got  up  in  the  morning,  she 
went  to  the  closet  to  look  for  the  children  ;  and  as 
they  were  not  there,  she  looked  all  about  the  house  ; 
and,  finding  that  they  were  gone  off,  she  went  and 
told  the  Giant,  who  was  a  long  time  in  waking  up  ; 
and  when  he  did  so,  he  was  in  a  great  passion,  and 
ran  to  look  at  the  closet ;  and  when  he  saw  the  key 
inside,  he  at  once  guessed  that  Hop  had  got  under 
the  door  and  taken  the  key  out  of  his  hand  while  he 
was  asleep. 


purs ilIk*  Ko[j  o^^llvunUr  (t  Kls  Brotkr§,vvKo^u4c.  Ln.<t  Cavt* 


139 


Hop-O'-My-Thumb  141 

"  But  never  mind,"  he  said  ;  "  give  me  my  Seven- 
league  Boots,  and  I  '11  soon  catch  'em  ;  and  I  '11  gobble 
up  that  tiny  little  rascal  at  once,  so  that  he  shall  not 
have  the  chance  of  cheating  me  again  ! " 

Off  went  the  Giant-Oo^re  to  look  for  the  little 
boys ;  but  as  he  was  not  quite  sober,  the  boots, 
which  had  been  made  by  a  fairy,  would  not  obey 
him,  and  tripped  him  up  almost  at  every  step  he 
took,  so  that  he  tumbled  about  at  a  great  rate,  some- 
times quite  heels  over  head,  and  had  some  very  heavy 
falls,  so  that  he  was  not  able  to  move  for  a  long  time. 
At  last  he  got  sober  ;  and  then  he  set  off,  first  in 
one  direction,  and  then  in  another,  until  he  came  to 
the  great  forest.  But  the  Boots  would  not  take  him 
through  or  over  the  wood,  so  he  was  obliged  to  go 
round  for  many  miles  to  get  to  the  other  side  ;  and 
by  the  time  he  got  there  he  was  so  tired  that  he 
threw  himself  down  upon  the  first  bank  he  came  to, 
and  almost  on  the  instant,  fell  asleep. 

Now  little  Hop  and  his  brothers  saw  the  Giant 
coming  towards  them,  but  could  not  make  out  how 
he  stepped  from  one  hill  to  another  just  as  if  he  were 
flying.      But  little  Hop,  who  was  very  fond  of  read- 


142  Hop-O'-My-Thumb 

ing,  had  read  a  story  about  a  pair  of  Seven-league 
Boots  in  a  book  ;  so  he  rightly  thought  that  the 
Giant  had  on  a  pair  of  those  wonderful  Boots. 
There  was  no  time  to  be  lost.  Hop-o'-my-Thumb 
looked  about  and  luckily  espied  a  small  cave,  into 
which  he  told  his  brothers  to  hide,  and  had  just  time 
to  get  in  himself,  when  the  Ogre,  seeing  the  bank, 
which  was  over  this  cave,  laid  himself  down,  as  we 
said,  and  went  to  sleep  ;  and  as  soon  as  he  began 
to  snore,  Hop  said  to  his  brothers  : 

"  Now  's  your  time  !  run  off  home,  and  I  '11  follow 
you  "  ;  but  they  did  not  like  to  leave  him  behind. 
However,  they  trusted  to  his  cleverness ;  and,  as  he 
made  a  sign  to  them  to  go,  they  did  so.  Hop-o'-my- 
Thumb  then  got  hold  of  one  of  the  Boots,  which  he 
pulled  off  the  Giant's  leg  without  much  difficulty  ;  he 
then  pulled  off  the  other,  and  thought  he  would  try 
if  they  would  fit  a  little  foot  as  well  as  a  big  one,  as 
he  had  read  of  in  the  story-book.  To  his  great  de- 
light, as  you  may  suppose,  when  he  pulled  them  on 
they  fitted  him  like  a  glove. 

It  was  but  a  "  hop,  step  and  a  jump  "  to  his  father's 
hut,  so  he  got  there  before  his  brothers.      He  found 


^fu.  GiAht  0|ve  falls  a.sleeji.  Kop'oViyTlumh,  jiuJls  off 
tiu.  5e.ve.a-  Lea,gucJ3ool;s  wKilsUu&Brotlttrs  riutavvdy  - 


143 


Hop-O'-My-Thumb  145 

that  his  mother  had  returned  home,  and  that  she  and 
his  father  were  both  in  tears.  They  were  overjoyed 
to  see  him,  and  eagerly  inquired  where  his  brothers 
were,  upon  which  he  told  them  they  would  be  there 
almost  directly.  His  mother  took  him  in  her  arms, 
and  sobbed  and  cried  over  him,  but  he  said  : 

"Cheer  up,  dear  father  and  mother,  for  I  think  I 
have  now  made  all  oiir  fortunes  "  ;  and  he  then  told 
his  father  all  about  the  Giant,  and  showed  him  the 
Seven-League  Boots  ;  and  as  he  was  telling  this,  in 
came  the  other  boys,  crying  : 

"  O  father  !  O  mother  !  "  and  then  they  were  soon 
all  crying  with  joy,  and  laughing  and  hugging  one 
another  ;  and  then  they  all  sat  down  to  breakfast ; 
and  as  they  were  taking  their  breakfast,  little  Hop 
asked  his  father  if  he  did  not  think  it  would  be  best 
for  him  to  set  off  to  court  without  a  moment's  delay, 
to  present  the  S^ven-league  Boots  to  the  King,  and  in- 
form him  about  the  Giant.  The  Count  and  Countess 
loth  approved  of  this  plan  ;  and  accordingly,  as  soon 
s  he  had  finished  his  breakfast — which  was  not  long, 
or  it  did  not  take  much  time  to  fill  such  a  little 
stomach  as  his — Hop  took  his  cap,  and  they  all  came 


146  Hop-O'-My-Thumb 

out  to  the  door  to  see  him  off.  The  Count  pointed 
out  the  direction  of  the  great  City  where  the  King's 
palace  was,  but  Hop  thought  he  would  try  if  the 
Boots  knew  their  way  there  ;  so,  after  they  had  all 
kissed  him  and  wished  him  success,  he  bade  them 
good-bye,  and  said  to  the  Boots  : 

"To  the  King's  palace!"  Off  they  set;  and,  as 
it  was  only  a  few  leagues  distant,  he  was  there  before 
you  could  count  ten.  Well,  when  he  arrived  at  the 
palace  he  came  down  into  the  court-yard  at  once,  to 
the  astonishment  of  all  the  officers  and  soldiers  in 
the  place,  and  he  demanded,  as  loudly  as  he  could 
to  be  led  into  the  presence  of  the  King  without 
delay,  as  he  had  an  important  communication  to 
make  to  his  Majesty.  Accordingly,  he  was  led  to 
the  audience-chamber,  where  the  King  and  Queen 
were  seated  upon  a  throne,  and  a  young  Prince  by 
their  side.  The  chamberlain  having  announced  this 
extraordinary  visitor,  introduced  him  to  the  King 
and  Queen,  who  were  much  surprised  and  amused 
at  seeing  such  a  tiny  little  gentleman.  He  made  a 
fine  bow,  and  informed  his  Majesty  about  the  Giant- 
Ogre,  and  also  described  the  wonderful  Boots,  which 


147 


Hop-O'-My-Thumb  149 

he  took  off  and  placed  before  the  throne.  The 
Boots,  which  were,  of  course,  so  very  small  when  he 
had  them  on,  when  off  expanded  themselves  into  a 
pair  of  good-sized  Boots,  and  they  then  made  most 
polite  bows  to  the  King  and  Queen,  and  also  to  the 
young  Prince.  The  King  at  once  saw  the  import- 
ance of  possessing  such  invaluable  Boots,  and  deter- 
mining to  buy  them  of  the  little  fellow,  inquired  his 
name.  And  when  Hop  told  him  whose  son  he  was, 
the  King,  who  had  thought  that  the  Count  was  dead, 
as  he  had  not  heard  of  him  for  many  years,  was  de- 
lighted to  find  that  he  was  still  alive,  for  his  Majesty 
and  the  Count  had  been  companions  in  their  youth. 
He,  therefore,  desired  his  Master-of-the- Horse  to 
forward  carriages  and  an  escort  to  bring  the  Count 
and  Countess,  with  their  family,  to  the  palace.  Poor 
little  Hop's  heart  beat  with  joy  when  he  heard  this 
order  given,  and  begged  permission  of  his  Majesty 
to  be  allowed  to  step  home  and  inform  his  parents 
of  his  Majesty's  intention.  The  King  smiled  at 
little  Hop's  request  "  to  step  home,"  a  distance  of 
some  leagues,  but  said,  "  Wonders  will  never  cease  !  " 
and  graciously  granted  the  little  fellow  permission  so 


1 50  Hop-O'-My-Thumb 

to  do,  who  put  on  the  Seven-league  Boots  again,  and 
away  went  Hop,  with  a  skip  and  a  Jump,  and  was  at 
home  again  in  a  few  minutes,  telHng  the  good  news, 
at  which,  of  course,  they  were  all  overjoyed. 

In  due  time  the  carriage  arrived,  with  a  present  of 
several  boxes  of  fine  clothes,  in  whxh  they  dressed 
themselves  and  left  the  old  wooden  hut,  which  they 
made  a  present  of  to  a  poor  old  woman  and  her  son, 
and  arrived  safely  at  the  palace,  where  they  were  re- 
ceived with  great  kindness,  the  King  welcoming  his 
old  companion,  the  Count,  with  warm  friendship ; 
and,  as  the  King  was  at  that  time  in  want  of  a  Prime 
Minister,  after  having  a  long  conversation  with  the 
Count,  he  appointed  him  to  that  important  office  ; 
and  he  also  promoted  little  Hop-o'-my-Thumb  to  the 
post  of  Messenger  Extraordinary  to  the  King,  and 
Director  of  Telegraphs  ;  and  the  Queen,  who  took  a 
great  liking  to  the  Countess,  appointed  her  Mistress 
of  the  Robes. 

The  first  act  of  the  Count  as  Prime  Minister  was 
to  advise  the  sending  an  army  to  take  all  the  Giants 
and  Giant-Ogres  in  the  land  prisoners,  which  was 
done.     And   instead   of   putting  them  to  death,  he 


Rep)'®  niyT'JjunnU  ^rescoHnl   jU^e 
>eveu  Le(3L(Su.e J®®bs  la  the     KAw, 


is« 


Hop-O'-My-Thumb  153 

tunicil  their  enormous  strength  to  useful  purposes, 
and  employed  them,  under  guards,  at  different  places 
where  great  national  works  and  improvements  were 
required, — such  as  new  roads,  draining  marshes,  and 
making  harbours  of  refuge  and  security  for  ships. 
And  he  let  them  have  their  wives  with  them,  who, 
although  Giantesses,  being  of  a  more  gentle  nature 
soothed  and  controlled  the  fierce  and  savage  nature, 
of  their  husbands  ;  and  thus  made  them  more  man- 
ageable and  useful  to  the  country.  The  next  thing 
the  Count  did,  having  suffered  so  much  in  himself 
and  family  from  the  scarcity  of  food,  was  to  pass  a 
law  to  admit  foreign  grain  into  their  markets,  which 
had  not  been  allowed  before.  The  Count  having 
experienced  the  evils  arising  from  gambling  and  bet- 
ting, passed  a  law  that  the  winner  in  either  of  these 
cases  should  always  pay  to  the  State  for  the  support 
of  the  poor  double  the  amoiiyit  of  his  luiyuiings  ;  and 
this  soon  put  a  stop  to  betting  and  gambling  entirely. 
Finding  that  strong  drinks  were  hurtful  to  all,  and 
that  they  created  a  great  deal  of  misery  and  all  sorts 
of  wickedness,  his  next  act  was  to  pass  a  law  to  abol- 
ish the  use  of  all  intoxicating  liquors  ;  the  effect  of 


154  Hop-O'-My-Thumb 

which  law  was,  that  in  a  short  time  there  were  very 
few,  if  any,  criminals  in  the  land  ;  and  the  only  pau- 
pers or  really  poor,  were  those  sick  or  aged  persons 
who  were  unable  to  do  any  sort  of  work,  for  all  the 
people  in  the  land  were  industrious,  and  the  country 
was  rich. 

The  last  great  law  that  he  made  was  that  every 
child  in  the  land  should  be  educated,  either  by  its 
parents  or  the  State  ;  that  all  should  be  taught  to 
read  and  write,  and  to  know  how  to  do  something 
that  might  be  useful  to  themselves  or  the  State  ;  and 
he  appointed  moral  teachers  to  those  classes  who  re- 
quired such  assistance  ;  and  compelled  parents  to  in- 
struct their  children  in  their  own  religion.  By  these 
good  laws  and  regulations,  peace,  comfort,  health, 
and  happiness,  were  felt  and  enjoyed  by  all  classes  in 
the  kingdom,  as  well  as  by  the  Count  and  Countess, 
and  their  children,  including,  of  course,  our  little 
hero,  Hop-o'-my-Thumb ;  who  was,  indeed,  truly 
happy  !  and  was  so  good,  that  he  was  beloved  by 
every  one. 


Cinderella  and  the  Glass 
Slipper. 


XSS 


,sii')ii-^i,ii.rHig,,;f 


t>Mi^ntit,a:6UlKt<l/U  lL4<rrj<.GTi4£4'Kiin*C' 


157 


Cinderella  and  the  Glass 
Slipper. 

HERE  once  lived  a  gentleman  of  a 
high  family,  who  was  very  rich, 
and  who  had  a  very  amiable  and 
handsome  wife,  and  a  most  beau- 
tiful little  daughter,  so  much  so, 
that  every  one  used  to  say  upon  seeing  her,  "  Oh  ! 
what  a  lovely  little  girl !  Oh,  what  a  sweet  little 
creature  ! "  but  although  the  little  girl  heard  all  these 
praises,  they  never  made  her  proud  or  vain,  for  her 
disposition  was  even  better  than  her  looks.  She  was, 
indeed,  one  of  those  natures  which  cannot  be  spoiled 
by  any  praise  or  indulgence  ;  but  she  was  also  well 
taught.  Her  mother  was  as  good  and  as  sensible  as 
she  was  handsome ;  but,  poor  lady  !  her  health  was 
delicate,  and  although  her  husband,  who  loved  her 
dearly,  had  all  the  first  physicians  in  the  town,  and 


i6o  Cinderella 

did  all  he  could  to  save  her  life,  yet  she  gradually  de- 
clined and  died, — regretted  by  every  one  who  knew 
her,  and  deeply  mourned  for  by  her  husband  and  her 
daughter. 

After  a  few  years  his  lady  friends  advised  him  to 
marry  again  ;  telling  him  that  he  should  do  so,  not 
only  for  his  own  comfort,  but  more  particularly  for 
the  sake  of  his  little  daughter  ;  and  that,  although 
the  love  and  care  of  her  natural  mother  could  never 
be  replaced,  yet  that  in  a  step-mother  she  would 
have  many  advantages,  and  probably  a  kind  and 
loving  relative.  Feeling  that  this  advice  was  good, 
and  being  acquainted  with  a  widow  who  had  two 
daughters,  he  thought  it  would  be  a  proper  and  de- 
sirable match,  as  the  lady's  daughters  would  be  excel- 
lent companions  to  his  own  darling  child  :  and  he 
therefore  soon  married. 

It  is  the  nature  of  woman  to  love  children,  because 
the  Almighty  has  appointed  her  to  bring  them  up  ; 
and  when  little  boys  or  girls  are  placed  at  an  early 
age  under  the  charge  of  a  step-mother,  it  is  very 
rarely  that  they  feel  the  loss  of  their  own  mother  : 
but  there  are  exceptions,  and  it  was  so,  unfortunately, 


Cinderella  i6i 

in  this  case ;  for  Cinderella's  step-mother  was  proud, 
selfish,  and  extravagant,  and  these  bad  qualities  led 
her  to  be  unjust  and  cruel. 

The  marriage  was  celebrated  with  great  pomp,  and 
the  guests  entertained  with  great  liberality,  and  for 
some  time  all  seemed  to  go  on  very  pleasantly. 
But  the  lady  was  so  fond  of  company,  that  she  was 
constantly  giving  grand  and  expensive  parties  ;  and 
being  very  greedy  after  money,  and  very  fond  of 
playing  at  cards,  she  became  quite  a  gambler,  and 
this  with  the  hope  of  winning  other  people's  money. 
But  in  this  she  was  mistaken,  for,  amongst  the  many 
fine  persons  who  visited  the  house,  many  of  them 
were  cheats — characters  quite  as  bad  as  any  com- 
mon thieves,  although  they  belong  to  what  is  called 
good  society,  and  in  time  she  not  only  was  cheated 
out  of  nearly  all  her  own  money,  but  her  husband's 
also  ;  for  he  was  an  easy,  good-natured  man,  and 
always  gave  her  what  money  she  required,  until  at 
last  all  his  property  was  gone,  and  he  was  so  much  in 
debt  that  he  was  put  into  prison. 

In  consequence  of  this  change  of  fortune,  the  lady 
was  obliged  to  discharge  all  the  servants  ;  but  as  the 


1 62  Cinderella 

house  and  furniture  had  been  settled  upon  her  at 
her  marriage,  she  kept  that,  and,  by  pinching  and 
contriving  in  various  ways,  she  managed,  with  a 
little  property  she  had  left  of  her  own,  to  keep  up 
appearances.  And  now  began  the  cruel  conduct 
towards  poor  Cinderella,  whom  she  compelled  to  do 
all  the  rough,  hard,  dirty  work  of  the  kitchen  and 
scullery,  whilst  she  and  her  daughters  did  all  the 
light  and  clean  work  required  for  the  best  rooms. 

It  is  a  very  unpleasant  thing  to  speak  ill  of  ladies, 
but  the  truth  must  be  told  ;  and  in  this  case  we  are 
sorry  to  say  that  the  lady  in  question  came  to  have 
a  very  bad  temper,  and  behaved  in  a  very  cruel 
manner  to  Cinderella — scolding  her  without  any 
cause ;  and  it  is  very  painful  to  add  that  the  young 
ladies  were  so  influenced  by  their  mother's  example, 
that  they  also  behaved  very  unkindly  to  their  step- 
sister. But  Cinderella  was  of  such  a  kind  and  ami- 
able disposition  that  she  did  all  this  drudgery  and 
bore  all  this  unkindness  without  murmuring ;  her 
only  grief  was  for  her  poor  father,  who  was  in 
prison  ;  and  this  so  depressed  her  spirits  that,  after 
she  had  done  all   the  housework,   instead  of  sitting 


■  >V,^> ',>^  *>'*'*"  I"  "*'" 


Cinder tlLtscowrinqlho  Pot&  a.yuL  fCctUcs 


CtMUreJL  iutfu^hr  listen  to  ^ej^  .  far  H^   J]^ya.i  UidM^ 


163 


1 


Cinderella  165 

at  the  door  or  the  window  with  her  needle,  or  go- 
ing into  the  garden,  she  would  crouch  in  the  corner 
of  the  large  fireplace  and  sit  amongst  the  ashes  and 
cinders  ;  and  thus  it  was  that  she  got  the  nickname 
of  "Cinderella." 

At  this  time,  the  King's  son  happening  to  come 
of  age,  his  Majesty  ordered  a  grand  ball  and  ban- 
quet to  be  given  in  honour  of  the  occasion,  and 
directed  that  all  the  ladies  in  those  parts  should  be 
invited,  in  order  that  the  Prince,  who  was  a  fine, 
noble,  handsome  fellow,  should  choose  a  wife  out 
from  amongst  them.  Poor  Cinderella,  who  was 
unknown,  or  looked  upon  as  a  poor,  dirty  drudge, 
was,  of  course,  not  invited,  but  her  two  step-sisters 
were  ;  and  they  were  more  than  delighted,  and  set 
to  work  with  their  mother  to  arrangre  and  settle 
about  their  dresses.  Such  consultations  about  fash- 
ion, and  trimmings,  and  muslin,  and  silks,  and  satins, 
and  laces,  and  ribbons,  and  braid,  and  bodices,  and 
flowers,  and  trains,  and  dresses,  and  feathers,  and 
jewels,  and  ornaments,  and  shoes,  and  buckles,  and 
sashes,  and  slippers,  and  all  sorts  of  finery  !  Such 
cutting,  and  contriving,  and  working,   that  the  day 


1 66  Cinderella 

before  the  ball  was  to  take  place  the  mamma,  who 
was  not  very  strong,  was  so  fatigued,  that  she  was 
laid  up  in  bed,  and  then  the  young  ladies  did  not 
know  what  to  do  for  some  one  to  help  them  ;  but 
they  were  not  long  without  assistance,  for  Cinder- 
ella's kind  heart  immediately  prompted  her  to  offer 
her  services,  which  were  readily  accepted,  as  the 
girls  knew  that  Cinderella  had  excellent  taste,  and 
was  clever  every  way.  But  they  said:  "  What  shall 
we  do  for  a  hair-dresser  ?  Oh  !  what  shall  we  do  ? 
We  can  never  go  to  the  ball  unless  we  have  a  hair- 
dresser." Well  might  they  say  so,  for  their  hair  had 
got  dreadfully  tangled  and  out  of  order,  in  conse- 
quence of  their  having  fallen  into  such  idle  habits 
that  they  did  not  comb  and  brush  their  hair  night 
and  morning,  as  they  ought  to  have  done. 

Now,  on  account  of  so  many  ladies  going  to  the 
grand  Royal  f6te,  all  the  hair-dressers  in  the  country 
were  in  great  request  ;  so  much  so,  that  they  raised 
their  charges  to  a  most  extraordinary  price,  and  thus 
it  was  only  the  rich  who  could  afford  to  hire  them  ; 
and  even  then  many  of  the  poor  hair-dressers  and 
their  assistants  were   so  fatigued   that  they   fainted 


Cinderella  167 

away  whilst  dressincr  the  ladies'  hair,  so  that  the  ladies 
and  their  maids  had  to  recover  theni  with  their  smell- 
ing bottles  and  other  restoratives. 

But  Cinderella  bade  her  sisters  rest  easy  about 
their  hair,  assurin^:^  them  that  she  could  dress  it  to 
their  satisfaction  ;  and  so  she  did, — a  dear,  good- 
natured,  darling  girl  as  she  was.  Cinderella  exerted 
herself  to  the  uttermost,  and  helped  to  dress  and  trim 
them  up,  even  so  as  to  astonish  themselves.  But,  oh  ! 
there  was  such  a  looking  in  the  glass  ! — such  a  twist- 
ing, and  turning,  and  pulling,  and  breaking  of  stay- 
laces,  and  trying  on,  and  taking  off,  and  putting  on 
again  ! — such  bursts,  too,  of  ill-temper,  when  they 
thought  anything  was  not  done  exactly  as  they 
wanted,  would  have  tried  anybody's  patience.  But 
dear  Cinderella  did  all  she  could  to  soothe  them,  antl 
to  please  them  ;  and  at  last  she  pretty  well  succeeded, 
for  they  seemed  to  be  quite  satisfied  as  they  took  a 
last  look  at  themselves  in  the  glass.  They  then  went 
and  showed  themselves  to  their  mother,  who  was  in 
her  bedroom,  and  who  declared  that  her  dear  girls 
looked  beautiful,  and  wished  that  there  were  two 
Princes  to  captivate  instead  of  one  !     As  they  had  no 


1 68  Cinderella 

carriage  of  their  own.  they  had  hired  one  of  a  gentle- 
man who  Hved  in  the  town,  and  who  was  so  good  as 
to  lend  out  carriages  upon  hire  to  folks  who  did  not 
keep  their  own  ;  and  having  dressed  up  the  driver, 
and  a  poor  man  who  did  their  gardening,  in  some  of 
the  old  livery  suits,  they  stepped  into  the  coach,  and 
were  driven  off  to  the  palace. 

Poor  Cinderella  followed  them  with  her  eyes  as 
long  as  they  were  in  sight,  and  then,  when  she  could 
see  them  no  longer,  her  beautiful  eyes  filled  with  tears, 
and  she  then  wished,  for  the  first  time,  that  sJic  also 
had  been  going  to  the  ball  ;  and,  turning  from  the 
door,  went  and  took  her  usual  place  in  the  chimney 
corner. 

Now  you  must  know  that  Cinderella  had  a  god- 
mother, who  was  a  dwarf,  and  who  used  to  come  to 
see  her  sometimes,  and  she  came  into  the  kitchen  just 
as  Cinderella  had  taken  her  seat  in  the  chimney-cor- 
ner. The  little  old  lady  sat  down  upon  a  small  log  of 
wood  on  the  opposite  side,  and  said, 

"  Why,  Cindy,  my  darling,  you  have  been  crying  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  she  replied,  with  a  sweet  smile,  "  I  did  shed 
a  few  tears  when  I  saw  my  sisters  going  to  the  Royal 


Cinderella  169 

Ball,  and  I  did  think  that  I  might  have  gone  also, 
and  I  thought  that  I  should  like,  above  all  things,  to 
go,  but  the  thought  of  my  poor  father  came  into  my 
mind,  and  I  now  feel  that  I  should  not  like  to  go  and 
enjoy  myself,  and  be  merry,  whilst  my  poor  father  is 
pining  in  prison." 

"  Well,  that  is  spoken  like  a  good,  dutiful,  feeling 
daughter.  I  like  your  sentiments,  and  approve  of 
your  conduct.  Nevertheless,  I  think  you  ought  to  go 
to  the  ball  as  well  as  your  sisters,  and,  what  is  more, 
you  shall  go." 

Cinderella  smiled  to  hear  her  godmother  say  she 
should  go,  knowing  that  she  had  neither  dress  nor 
coach  to  cro  in.  And  so  she  told  her  godmother 
(which  was  the  truth)  that  she  would  rather  not  go. 

"  But,"  said  the  little  lady,  "  if  I  wish  you  to  go,  to 
oblige  me,  particularly  when  I  tell  you  that,  by  so  do- 
ing, you  will  make  friends  at  Court,  and  be  able  to 
set  your  father  free  from  prison,  I  suppose  you  will 
not  offer  any  objection." 

"  Certainly  not,"  said  Cinderella. 

Her  godmother  then  desired  her  to  do  everything 
she  told  her,  and  not  to  ask  any  questions.     Cinder- 


1 70  Cinderella 

ella  was  always  obedient  when  it  was  to  do  good. 
The  dwarf  then  said  : 

"  Run  into  the  garden  and  fetch  me  a  pumpkin." 

Cinderella  brought  in  immediately  the  largest  she 
could  find.  The  dwarf  then  took  a  knife,  and  having 
cut  a  large  round  hole  on  each  side,  scooped  out  the 
middle,  and  placed  it  upon  the  ground,  with  some  of 
the  stem  upon  which  the  pumpkin  grows.  She  then 
took  five  mushrooms,  which  were  lying  upon  the 
dresser,  and  fastened  four  of  them,  by  means  of  the 
tendrils,  to  the  side  of  the  pumpkin,  like  wheels  ;  and 
the  fifth  she  placed  in  the  front,  as  if  for  a  coach-box. 
She  then  told  her  goddaughter  to  fetch  her  the 
mouse-trap,  in  which  she  found  six  white  mice  ;  and 
havine  taken  a  little  ball  of  thread  out  of  her  little 
pocket,  she  took  the  mice,  one  by  one,  and  fastened 
the  thread  round  their  throats,  and  placed  them  one 
behind  the  other,  like  a  team  of  horses. 

"  Now,  child  !  "  she  said,  "  run  into  the  garden 
again,  and  behind  the  water-butt,  in  a  fiower-pot,  you 
will  find  six  green  lizards, — bring  them  here." 

She  did  so  ;  and  the  dwarf,  placing  a  little  bit  of 
straw  in  the  right  claw  of  each,  placed  two  behind  the 


Cinderella  171 

pumpkin,  one  on  each  side,  and  the  other  two  in  front 
of  the  mice. 

"  Now,"  said  the  Httle  woman,  "  we  want  a  coach- 
man ;  and  if  there  is  a  rat  in  the  trap,  we  '11  mount 
him  on  the  box  for  a  driver." 

The  trap  was  brought — there  were  two  in  it — and 
the  dwarf,  selecting-  the  largest  and  the  fattest,  and 
with  the  longest  tail  and  whiskers,  placed  him  sitting 
upright  upon  the  mushroom  in  the  front  of  the 
pumpkin  ;  and  then,  putting  the  end  of  the  threads 
in  one  of  his  claws,  and  a  long  blade  of  straw  in  the 
other,  she  told  Cinderella  to  open  the  kitchen  door 
that  led  into  the  road.  Then,  taking  up  her  little 
walking-stick  in  her  hand,  she  waved  it  three  times 
over  the  pumpkin,  saying  : 

"  Heigh  ho  !  presto  !  — go  !  "  and  away  went  the 
mice,  with  the  pumpkin  rolling  after  them,  and  the 
lizards  running  upon  their  hind  legs,  out  of  the 
door  into  the  road,  followed  by  the  dwarf,  who  again 
waved  her  tiny  stick  three  times,  exclaiming  : 

"  Now,  pumpkin,  mushrooms,  rat,  and  mice,  and  lizards,  all 
Change  !  to  a  coach-and-six,  with  servants  strong  and  tall, 
To  take  my  darling  daughter  to  the  Royal  Ball." 


172  Cinderella 

Whilst  the  dwarf  was  narnessing  the  mice  to  the 
pumpkin,  placing-  the  hzards  by  the  side,  and  putting 
the  rat  upon  the  mushroom,  Cinderella  was  much 
amused  ;  and  when  she  saw  it  all  move  across  the 
kitchen  floor,  like  a  little  coach  and  horses,  and  go  out 
into  the  road,  she  was  more  than  surprised :  but, 
when  she  saw  the  pumpkin  turn  into  a  real  coach,  and 
the  rat  into  a  real  coachman,  with  a  long  pig-tail  and 
large  mustaches,  the  mice  into  milk-white  steeds, 
and  the  green  lizards  into  tall  footmen  with  their 
green  and  gold  liveries,  she  was  struck  with  wonder 
and  astonishment,  which  was  increased,  if  possible, 
still  more,  when,  after  her  godmother  had  gently 
touched  her  with  her  little  cane,  or  wand,  she  found 
all  her  dingy,  rough-working  dress  changed,  in  an  in- 
stant, into  one  of  the  most  beautiful  dresses  that  can 
be  imacT-ined  ;  her  stomacher  studded  with  diamonds, 
and  her  neck  and  arms  encircled  with  the  most  costly 
jewels ! 

Her  godmother  then  took  from  her  tiny  pocket  a 
pair  of  beautiful  glass  shoes  or  slippers,  and  bade 
Cinderella  put  them  on.  Now  the  soles  and  lining  of 
these  slippers  were  made  of  an  elastic  material,  and 


•173 


Cinderella  175 

covered  on  the  outside  with  delicate  spun  glass. 
They  were  exceedingly  small,  but  Cinderella  put 
them  on  without  difficulty.  Her  godmother  then 
conducted  her  to  the  coach,  telling  her,  as  she  entered 
and  took  her  seat  upon  a  beautiful,  soft,  amber- 
coloured  cushion,  to  be  sure  to  leave  the  palace  be- 
fore the  clock  struck  Twelve,  and  that  if  she  dis- 
obeyed or  neglected  this  injunction,  the  charm  would 
be  broken,  and  she  and  everything  else  about  her 
would  change  back  again  to  their  former  condition. 

Cinderella  promised  to  attend  to  this,  and  the 
coach  drove  on  towards  the  King's  palace,  Cinderella 
wondering^  more  and  more  at  the  stranore  things 
which  had  happened,  and  beginning  to  think — what 
she  had  never  suspected  before — that  her  little  dwarf 
godmother  was  a  fairy.  And  so,  indeed  she  was  ; 
for  none  else  could  have  done  such  wonderful  thines  ! 

When  the  coach  arrived  at  the  outer  gate  of  the 
palace,  the  guards,  porters,  and  attendants  thought 
some  grand  Princess  had  arrived  ;  for  such  a  splendid 
equipage  and  such  a  beautiful  lady  had  never  been 
seen  before.  The  young  Prince,  upon  hearing  this, 
hastened  to  the  inner  gate,  and  assisted  Cinderella  to 


176  Cinderella 

alight.  He  was  at  once  struck  with  her  beauty  and 
sweet  expression,  and  fell  deeply  in  love  with  her  the 
moment  he  beheld  her.  He  then  conducted  her  to 
the  presence  chamber,  where  the  King  and  Queen 
were  seated  on  a  throne,  and  introduced  her  to  his 
Royal  parents,  who  were  amazed  at  the  dazzling  beauty 
of  the  young  lady,  and  the  novelty  and  splendour  of 
her  dress,  and  each  secretly  wished  that  their  son 
would  choose  her  for  a  bride.  It  was  not  only  the 
King  and  Queen  and  the  Prince  who  were  amazed 
at  the  appearance  of  dear  Cinderella,  but  the  whole  of 
the  company  assembled,  including  her  two  step-sis- 
ters, who  had  not  the  slightest  idea  that  it  was  Cinder- 
ella, and  all  kept  on  exclaiming,  as  the  Prince  led  her 
out  to  dance  :  "  Oh,  how  handsome  she  is  !  Oh,  how 
beautiful  !  What  grace  !  what  elegance  !  What  a 
charming  creature  !  What  a  beautiful  dress  !  What 
splendid  jewels!"  Her  appearance,  indeed,  created 
quite  a  sensation,  and  her  modest  demeanour,  to- 
gether with  the  sweetness  of  her  expression,  charmed 
everyone  who  beheld  her.  The  Prince,  by  his  marked 
attention,  showed  at  once  upon  whom  his  choice  had 
fallen  ;  and,  as  he  conversed  with  her,  he  felt  his  at- 


Cinderella  177 

tachment  increase,  for  he  found  her  mind  and  disposi- 
tion were  as  charming  as  her  person  was  beautiful. 

At  the  banquet,  she  was  placed  on  the  left  of  the 
Queen,  who  treated  her  with  the  greatest  kindness,  as 
well  as  the  King  also.  The  Prince,  of  course^  was 
unremitting  in  his  attentions,  and  everything  was  done 
that  was  possible  to  make  Cinderella  happy  and  com- 
fortable. She  felt  it  ;  when,  suddenly,  the  thought 
of  her  poor  father  crossed  her  mind,  and  she  inwardly 
prayed  that  her  godmother's  promise  of  her  being  able 
to  assist  him  out  of  his  troubles  might  be  realised. 
She  then  thought  of  her  godmother's  warning  to  leave 
before  the  hour  of  Tivelve  ;  and,  watching  the  oppor- 
tunity when  the  ladies  retired,  she  hastened  to  the 
court-yard  and  was  on  the  road  home  long  before 
the  clock  had  struck  the  midnight  hour. 

When  the  company  re-assembled,  the  Prince  imme- 
diately sought  for  Cinderella,  and  as  she  was  not  to 
be  found  in  any  of  the  rooms,  he  flew  to  the  gate  to 
inquire  if  her  carriage  was  there  ;  but  finding  that  she 
had  departed  he  became  quite  distracted,  for  he  had 
hoped  to  have  found  out  who  she  was  and  where  she 
lived.     He  instantly  despatched  messengers  on  horse- 


1 78  Cinderella 

back  after  the  carriage,  with  a  poHte  and  earnest  re- 
quest that  the  lady  would  return  for  a  short  time  ;  but 
they  could  nowhere  find  the  carriage,  although  they 
had  gone  several  miles  in  the  direction  which  the 
coach  had  taken. 

The  Prince,  in  his  distress,  consulted  the  King  as 
to  what  course  he  should  pursue.  The  King,  seeing 
the  painful  state  of  the  Prince's  mind,  immediately 
had  it  announced  by  his  chamberlains  that  a  similar 
entertainment  would  be  given  the  following  evening ; 
and  being  a  kind  and  feeling  King,  and  wishing  to 
save  his  subjects  from  any  increased  expense  for 
dress,  they  were  given  to  understand  that  it  was  his 
Majesty's  desire  that  the  company  should  all  appear 
in  the  same  dresses  that  they  wore  that  evening,  in 
order,  as  he  said,  that  he  might  recognise  them 
again. 

The  reason  for  giving  another  ball  was,  as  you 
may  guess,  the  expectation  that  the  charming  young 
Princess  would  come  again,  and  that  then  the  Prince 
would  ascertain  who  she  was,  and  take  an  opportu- 
nity of  declaring  his  love  and  requesting  her  hand  in 


Cinderella  179 

When  Cinderella  arrived  at  her  father's  house  she 
found  her  godmother  standing  at  the  garden  gate, 
who  told  her  to  make  haste  into  the  kitchen.  As 
she  went  in,  she  found  herself  in  her  working  dress 
again,  and  as  she  took  her  scat  once  more  amongst 
the  cinders,  she  tried  to  collect  her  thoughts  upon 
the  extraordinary  and  wonderful  events  that  had 
occurred  during  the  evening.  One  thing  was  cer- 
tain :  the  noble,  manly  bearing  of  the  handsome 
young  Prince,  .together  with  the  intelligence  of  his 
mind,  had  made  a  great  impression  upon  her.  As 
Cinderella  was  entering  the  house,  the  thought 
struck  her.  "  What  will  godmother  do  with  the  coach 
and  horses?"  and  she  was  not  surprised  to  see  them 
gradually  diminish  until  they  returned  to  their  origi- 
nal size,  and  followed  the  dwarf  into  the  garden. 
What  the  Fairy  did  with  them  Cinderella  nor  any- 
one else  ever  knew  to  this  day  ;  but  she  supposed 
they  were  placed  in  a  little  out-house,  with  plenty  of 
provender.  In  a  short  time  after  Cinderella  had  come 
home,  her  sisters  arrived ;  and,  as  she  was  lighting 
their  candles  in  the  parlour,  they  gave  her  an  account 
of  the  grand  entertainment  and  the  grand  company, 


1 80  Cinderella 

but,  above  all,  of  the  beautiful  Princess  (for  she 
could  be  nothing  else,  they  said)  who  had  been  the 
great  attraction  of  the  evening,  and  with  whom  the 
Prince  had  surely  fallen  in  love  ;  that  she  had  gone 
off,  nobody  knew  where,  and  that  the  King  was  to 
give  another  grand  fete  the  following  evening,  and 
that  they  and  everybody  who  was  there  had  been 
again  invited.  Cinderella  could  have  told  the 
greater  part  of  this  herself,  but  she  only  smiled 
and  said,  "  Indeed  !  "  and  "  Dear  me  !  "  and  so  on. 

Early  the  next  morning,  by  break  of  day,  the  hair- 
dressers were  in  request  again,  and  again  they  raised 
their  charges!  It  is  recorded  that  it  was  a  most  ex- 
traordinary sight,  such  as  had  never  been  witnessed 
before,  to  see  these  hair-dressers  flying  about  from 
house  to  house,  and  some  that  had  to  go  a  distance 
riding  on  horseback.  They  had  been  refreshed,  of 
course,  by  a  good  night's  rest,  and  at  first  they  got 
on  pretty  well,  but  towards  evening  they  became 
quite  exhausted,  and  were  constantly  swooning  and 
fainting  away. 

Cinderella  had  again  to  help  her  sisters  to  dress 
and  to  arrange  their  hair,  and  saw  them  depart  again, 


Cinderella  1 8 1 

but  not  with  the  same  feelings  as  before,  for  her  god- 
mother had  been  with  her  in  the  morning,  and  told 
her  she  should  go  again  to  the  palace.  The  Fairy 
kept  her  word,  and  soon  after  the  sisters'  carriage 
had  left  the  door,  she  came  into  the  kitchen,  changed 
Cinderella's  dress  to  one  even  more  beautiful  than 
the  first,  if  that  were  possible,  had  the  coach,  as 
before,  ready  to  convey  her  to  the  ball,  bade  her 
depart,  giving  her  the  same  strict  injunction  to  be 
sure  and  leave  before  the  clock  struck  Twelve. 

The  Prince  had  given  orders  to  his  pages  to  let 
him  know  instantly  if  they  saw  the  beautiful  Princess's 
carriage  approaching  ;  and  when  he  heard  that  it  was 
really  driving  into  the  court-yard,  he  flew  down  to 
receive  Cinderella  again,  and  again  he  conducted  her, 
with  a  light  heart  and  a  smiling  face,  to  the  presence 
of  his  Royal  parents,  who  were  again  delighted  to  see 
their  beautiful  visitor.  She  again  became  the  princi- 
pal object  of  attraction  and  conversation,  and  the 
Prince  took  the  first  opportunity  to  declare  himself 
her  admirer,  and  to  ask  her  to  become  his  bride. 
Her  reply  was,  that  she  must  consult  her  father  and 
friends  ;  and  he  was  about  to  beg  that  he  might  be 


t82  Cinderella 

allowed  to  pay  his  respects  to  them  immediately, 
when  the  clock  began  to  strike  the  hour  of  Twelve! 
She  started  up,  and  hastily  quitted  the  apartment. 
The  Prince,  determined  not  to  lose  sight  of  her  this 
time,  followed  Cinderella,  for  the  purpose  of  escort- 
ing her  home  ;  but  as  he  hurried  after  her,  his  atten- 
tion was  attracted  by  one  of  her  beautiful  glass 
slippers,  which  had  slipped  off  her  foot  in  her  haste 
to  gain  the  outer  gate.  As  he  stooped  to  pick  up 
the  glass  slipper,  Cinderella  turned  into  one  of  the 
passages,  and  he  lost  sight  of  her.  When  she  got  as 
far  as  the  court-yard,  the  palace  clock  struck  the  last 
stroke  of  Twelve !  Instantly  her  dress  was  changed 
into  her  kitchen  garb,  and,  as  she  passed  the  outer 
gate,  the  grand  coach  and  all  were  again  changed  to 
pumpkin,  mushrooms,  rat,  mice,  and  lizards. 

The  Prince,  who  had  taken  a  wrong  turning  in  the 
passages  in  pursuit  of  Cinderella,  was,  however,  at 
the  gate  soon  after  she  had  passed,  and  inquired  of 
the  guards  if  they  had  seen  the  beautiful  Princess 
pass,  and  which  way  the  carriage  had  gone  ;  but  they 
all  declared  that  no  one,  except  a  scullery  maid,  had 
passed  out,  and,  upon  looking  for  her  coach,  it  was 


Ttho  FriTut,  fueJufwu^  CMdtrSCs.  g&us  SUjifier 


CjuitrclU-  tiAJC-i^^^-^  ^-J^    .^ci     ^ 


-,o  i., 


183 


Cinderella  185 

nowhere  to  be  seen.  The  Prince  ordered  them  to  go 
and  seek  it  in  every  direction ;  and  he,  even  in  his 
ball-dress,  mounted  a  horse  and  dashed  down  the 
road  the  Princess  had  been  seen  to  come. 

Poor  Cinderella  arrived  at  home  quite  out  of  breath. 
The  garden  gate  was  open,  but  no  godmother  was 
there  ;  she  saw  the  pumpkin  coach  roll  in,  and  the 
gate  shut  after  it,  and  had  just  time  to  get  inside  the 
kitchen-door  as  the  Prince  galloped  furiously  past ; 
and,  after  a  time,  she  saw  him  gallop  back  towards 
the  palace,  with  her  heart  beating  quite  as  fast  as  the 
Prince's  horse  was  galloping.  She  then  returned  to 
her  chimney-corner  again,  but  this  time  with  no  de- 
sponding feelings  :  yet  she  wondered  how  it  would  all 
end.  The  Prince  loved  her,  and  she  loved  the  Prince  : 
that  was  all  so  far  clear  and  settled  ;  but  how  was  it 
possible  that  a  Royal  Prince  should  marry  such  a 
poor  girl  as  she  was  ?  In  the  midst  of  these  thoughts 
her  sisters  returned,  and  they  again  described  the 
doings  at  the  palace  and  the  re-appearance  of  the 
charming  Princess,  to  all  which  Cinderella  said,  as 
before,  "  Indeed  ! "     "  Dear  me  ! "  and  so  on. 

On  the  following  morning  at  an  early  hour,  the 


1 86  Cinderella 

town  was  aroused  by  the  blowing-  of  trumpets,  and, 
upon  the  people  coming  out  to  know  the  occasion 
of  it,  they  found  two  of  the  R-oyal  herald  trumpeters, 
with  a  Chamberlain,  guards,  and  an  attendant  carry- 
ing a  crimson  velvet  cushion,  upon  which  was  placed 
a  glass  slipper.  When  the  trumpeters  had  blown  a 
flourish,  the  Chamberlain  read  a  proclamation,  to  the 
effect  that  the  Royal  Prince  requested  all  the  single 
ladies  should  try  on  this  glass  slipper,  and  declared 
that  whomsoever  it  micjht  fit  he  would  make  his 
bride.  Oh  !  then  immediately  followed  such  a  trying 
on — such  efforts  to  squeeze  in  their  dear  little  feet ; 
but  no !  not  one  could  get  the  glass  slipper  on,  not 
even  half-way  ;  some  could  not  get  their  toes  in, — 
for  the  more  they  tried,  the  more  it  seemed  to  shrink, 
— and  the  Chamberlain  requested  that  they  would  not 
use  it  too  roughly,  lest  they  should  break  the  spun- 
glass  covering. 

The  Chamberlain  and  attendants  had  gone  nearly 
all  over  the  town,  and  were  growing  weary,  when  they 
turned  to  where  Cinderella  lived,  which  was  a  little  out 
of  the  road.  The  sisters  were  standing  at  the  kitchen 
door,  the  mother  at  her  bedroom  window,  for  she  was 


1&7 


Cinderella  189 

still  unable  to  leave  her  room,  and  poor  Cinderella  in 
her  dingy  dress  was  peeping  over  her  sisters'  shoul- 
ders. The  Chamberlain  came  forward,  requesting  the 
sisters  to  try  on  the  slipper, — which  they  did  to  their 
uttermost,  at  the  same  time  feeling  that  it  was  of  very 
little  use  ;  after  several  unsuccessful  efforts,  they  gave 
back  the  slipper,  but  the  Chamberlain,  having  caught 
sight  of  Cinderella  sitting  in  her  old  corner,  requested 
that  she  also  would  try  on  the  glass  slipper ;  but  the 
sisters  set  up  a  loud  laugh,  and  said  the  idea  was  ridicu- 
lous !  and  would  not  allow  any  such  thing ;  but  the 
Chamberlain  said  his  orders  were  imperative  that  all 
should  try  it  on, — besides  which,  although  it  was  a 
dark  corner  where  Cinderella  was,  he  saw  enough  to 
convince  him  that  those  beautiful  long  ringlets  be- 
longed to  a  beautiful  face  and  person.  He  then  re- 
quested Cinderella  to  take  a  seat.  Just  before  this 
the  dwarf  had  come  in,  and  had  privately  handed  the 
other  glass  slipper  to  Cinderella,  which  she  had  put 
into  her  pocket.  However,  she  now  stepped  forward, 
took  her  seat,  placed  her  foot  upon  the  cushion,  and 
the  slipper  slipped  on  in  an  instant,  with  the  greatest 
ease.     The  sisters  could  scarcely  believe  their  eyes ; 


1 90  Cinderella 

the  Chamberlain  and  the  attendants  were  surprised 
and  startled  ;  but  they  were  all  much  more  so  when 
Cinderella  quietly  drew  forth  from  her  pocket  the 
fellow  glass  slipper. 

When  the  Chamberlain  saw  that  Cinderella  was  the 
lady  of  whom  he  was  in  search,  he  informed  her  that, 
in  case  he  should  be  successful  in  finding  the  lady 
whom  the  slipper  would  fit,  he  had  a  message  to  her 
from  the  Queen,  to  beg  that  she  would  be  so  obliging 
as  to  come  to  her  at  the  palace  without  delay.  Cin- 
derella looked  at  her  godmother  to  know  what  reply 
she  should  make.  The  dwarf  said,  "  Please  to  sig- 
nify to  the  Queen  that  my  goddaughter  will  attend 
upon  her  Majesty  immediately." 

The  Chamberlain  then  dispatched  a  messenger  in 
all  haste  to  the  Prince,  to  inform  him  that  the  lady 
had  been  found  who  could  put  on  the  glass  slipper, 
and  who  had  also  the  fellow  to  it,  and  that  she  would 
soon  be  at  the  palace,  agreeably  to  the  request  of  the 
Queen.  He  then  most  respectfully  informed  Cinder- 
ella that  he  awaited  her  ladyship's  pleasure  to  accom- 
pany her  with  the  guard. 

As  soon  as  the  sisters  had  recovered  from  the  amaze- 


Cinderella  191 

ment  Into  which  this  discovery  had  thrown  them,  they 
burst  into  tears  and  said :  "  Why,  Cinderella,  are  you, 
indeed,  the  beautiful  lady  whom  we  saw  at  the  palace  ? 
Oh,  pray  forgive  us  for  all  the  rudeness  and  unkind- 
ness  which  we  have  been  guilty  of  towards  you  ! " 

Cinderella's  tender  heart  was  touched  at  the  re- 
pentant words  of  her  step-sisters,  and  she  also,  burst- 
ing into  tears,  threw  her  arms  around  their  necks,  and, 
kissing  them  one  after  the  other,  said  : 

"  Dear  sisters,  never  say  another  word  about  it ;  I 
hope  these  strange  changes  will  be  the  means  of  mak- 
ing us  all  the  happier." 

The  two  girls  then  ran  up  to  their  mother's  room 
to  tell  her  the  wonderful  news.  Meanwhile,  the 
Fairy  retired  into  Cinderella's  bedroom,  followed  by 
her  goddaughter,  and  then,  changing  Cinderella's  old, 
shabby,  kitchen  attire  into  an  elegant  morning  dress, 
in  which  she  looked  even  more  charming,  if  possible, 
than  she  did  in  her  full  dress,  told  her  to  prepare  to 
meet  her  father,  to  whom  she  had  that  day  restored 
all  his  estates  and  property,  and  whom  she  expected 
there  in  a  few  minutes.  Accordingly,  almost  before 
she  had  done  speaking,  a  great  shouting  was  heard. 


192  Cinderella 

Her  father  had  arrived  ;  and  when  the  people  of  the 
neighbourhood  saw  their  worthy  friend  again,  they 
welcomed  him  home  with  loud  huzzas  !  for  he  was  a 
great  favourite  with  all  the  people  in  the  town  and 
country  round  about. 

Cinderella  rushed  out  to  welcome  him  ;  and  great 
was  the  joy  of  both  father  and  daughter  at  this  un- 
expected but  pleasant  meeting,  He  then  went  up  to 
see  his  wife — it  was  an  affectionate  meeting.  He  was 
also  glad  to  see  her  daughters,  and  they  were  glad  to 
see  him.  At  this  moment  the  Chamberlain  sent  to 
remind  Cinderella  that  the  Queen  would  be  then  ex- 
pecting her.  A  little  explanation  sufificed  to  make 
Cinderella's  father  not  only  acquainted  with  the  ex- 
traordinary circumstances,  but  also  to  give  him  the 
greatest  satisfaction  at  the  prospect  of  his  daughter's 
elevation  and  happiness ;  and  he  determined  at  once 
to  accompany  her  to  the  palace.  The  Fairy  had 
brought  round  Cinderella's  grand  coach  to  the  door, 
into  which  she  and  her  goddaughter  both  entered  ; 
whilst  the  father  mounted  the  horse  upon  which  he 
had  returned  home  ;  and,  with  the  herald,  trumpet- 
ers,    and    Chamberlain     in    front,  and   the    father, 


Cinderella  193 

followed  by  the  guards  in  the  rear,  they  proceeded 
towards  the  Royal  palace,  accompanied  by  a  large 
concourse  of  people,  who  were  in  a  state  of  great  ex- 
citement, and  kept  on  shouting  until  the  cavalcade 
reached  the  palace,  at  the  gates  of  which  the  Prince 
was  waiting  to  receive  Cinderella,  which  he  did  with 
great  delight.  He  was  somewhat  surprised  at  the 
appearance  of  the  dwarf ;  but  when  Cinderella  in- 
formed him  that  she  was  her  godmother  and  her  best 
friend,  he  saluted  the  little  lady  with  great  respect, 
and  conducted  them  both  to  the  Queen,  his  mother. 
Cinderella  had  also  presented  her  father  to  the 
Prince,  whom  he  welcomed  most  cordially,  desiring 
his  page  in  waiting  to  conduct  him  to  his  own  apart- 
ments, where  he  soon  joined  him  to  say  that  the 
King,  his  father,  wished  to  have  an  interview.  They 
accordingly  repaired  to  the  Royal  library,  where  they 
found  his  Majesty,  attended  by  his  Chancellor  and 
other  law  officers.  The  King  was  delighted  to  find 
an  old  friend  in  the  person  of  Cinderella's  father, 
wlio,  as  may  be  supposed,  readily  gave  his  consent 
to  the  marriage  of  his  daughter  to  the  Prince  ;  and 
the  lawyers  having  drawn  up  the  marriage-contract, 


194  Cinderella 

they  all  repaired  to  the  Queen's  apartments,  to  have 
it  signed  by  Cinderella,  the  Royal  Prince,  and  the 
other  parties. 

The  Queen  had  been  in  conversation  with  the 
dwarf,  and  was  so  much  pleased  with  her  wit  and 
good  sense,  that  she  introduced  her  to  the  King's 
especial  notice,  who  received  Cinderella's  godmother 
with  great  condescension  and  affability.  It  was  de- 
termined that  the  marriage  should  take  place  as  soon 
as  the  necessary  preparations  could  be  made.  "  That 
is,"  his  Majesty  jocosely  said,  "  if  it  met  with  the 
approbation  of  the  young  people."  The  Prince  smil- 
ingly replied,  that  they  would  be  guided  by  his 
Majesty's  pleasure. 

The  King,  who  was  in  the  highest  flow  of  spirits, 
declared  that  there  should  be  extraordinary  grand 
doings  to  celebrate  this  wedding ;  and,  amongst  other 
things,  ordered  that  there  should  be  running  "  fount- 
ains of  wine"  in  the  court-yards  of  the  palace,  and 
also  in  the  streets.  Upon  which  Cinderella's  god- 
mother, who  had  been  conversing  with  the  King, 
begged  that  his  Majesty  would  not  carry  out  that 
part  of  the  arrangements. 


Cinderella  195 

"Why  not?"  said  the  King;  "it  is  the  custom 
upon  all  great  festive  occasions,  and  the  people  would 
be  disappointed  were  it  omitted  at  a  Royal  wedding." 

"  It  is  true,"  replied  the  dwarf,  "  that  the  people  look 
for  such  things,  but  although  there  is  much  boisterous 
mirth  created  by  the  drink  around  these  wine  fount- 
ains, yet  your  Majesty  is  aware  that  this  same  drink 
leads  also  to  quarrels,  brutal  fights,  and  violent 
deaths." 

"Well,  I  fear  it  is  so,"  the  King  replied;  "but 
this  misconduct  and  violence  is  only  committed  by 
those  who  take  too  imich,  and  not  by  those  who  take 
it  in  moderation." 

"  The  history  of  the  use  of  strong  drink,"  the 
dwarf  said,  "  is  marked  on  every  page  by  excess,  which 
follows,  as  a  matter  of  course,  from  the  very  nature  of 
its  composition^  and  is  always  accompanied  by  ill-health, 
misery,  and  crime." 

"  Well,  but,"  said  the  King,  "  what  is  to  be  done  ? 
Are  not  these  things  intended  by  Providence  for  our 
use .'' 

"  With  all  deference  to  your  Majesty,"  said  the 
dwarf  in   reply,  "  most  assuredly  not ;  for  such  is  the 


196  Cinderella 

POWER  of  the  CREATOR  that,  if  It  had  been  necessary 
for  man  to  take  stimulating  drinks,  the  Almighty 
could  have  given  them  to  himy^^^  from  allintoxicat- 
ing qualities,  as  He  has  done  with  all  solids  and  liquids 
necessary  and  fit  for  the  support  of  man's  life ;  and  as 
He  never  intended  that  any  man  should  be  intoxi- 
cated, and  as  He  knows  that  all  men  cannot  take  these 
drinks  alike,  such  is  His  goodness  and  mercy,  that  He 

WOULD  HAVE  SENT  THEM  TO  US  WITHOUT  THE  IN- 
TOXICATING PRINCIPLE  ;  and  when  people  talk  of  these 
intoxicating  drinks,  that  do  so  much  deadly  mischief, 
being  sent  to  us  by  the  Almighty,  we  might  as  well 
say  that  He  sends  us  gunpowder,  because  man  con- 
verts certain  materials  into  such  a  deadly  composition. 
And  as  to  moderation,  pardon  me,  your  Majesty,  but 
so  long  as  your  Majesty  continues  to  take  even  half 
a  glass  of  wine  a-day,  so  long  will  the  drinking  cus- 
toms of  society  be  considered  respectable  and  be 
kept  up  ;  and  it  thus  follows,  as  a  necessary  conse- 
quence, that  thousands  of  your  Majesty's  subjects 
will  be  constantly  falling  by  excess  into  vice,  wretched- 
ness, and  crime  ;  and  as  to  people  not  being  able  to  do 
without  stimulating  drinks,   I   beg  your  Majesty  to 


^' 


197 


Cinderella  199 

look  at  Cinderella,  who  never  has  taken  any  in  all  her 
life,  and  who  never  will." 

"  My  dear  little  lady,"  exclaimed  the  King,  good- 
humouredly,  "your  arguments  have  convinced  me: 
there  shall  be  no  more  fountains  of  wine  in  my  do- 
minions." And  he  immediately  gave  orders  that  all 
the  wine,  beer,  and  spirits  in  the  place  should  be 
collected  together  and  piled  upon  the  top  of  a  rocky 
mound  in  the  vicinity  of  the  palace,  and  made  a  great 
bonfire  of  on  the  niorht  of  the  weddine  • — which  was 
accordingly  done,  and  a  splendid  blaze  it  made  ! 

An  early  day  was  then  fixed  for  the  wedding,  which 
was  solemnised  in  the  cathedral  with  great  pomp  and 
splendour,  all  the  great  people  in  the  country  being 
present,  including,  of  course,  Cinderella's  father  and 
her  step-mother.  The  King  and  Queen  were  seated 
upon  a  throne  near  the  altar.  Many  beautiful  young 
ladies  attended  Cinderella  as  bridemaids,  amongst 
whom  were  her  two  step-sisters.  The  bride's  dress 
was  of  the  richest  white  satin,  ornamented  with  bou- 
quets of  orange-blossoms  ;  a  large  white  lace  veil 
covered  her  head ;  her  brow  was  encircled  with  a 
wreath   of    orange-blossoms,    mixed  with    diamonds, 


200  Cinderella 

whose  sparkles  seemed  dimmed  by  the  brightness  of 
her  beautiful  blue  eyes ;  and  her  long,  waving,  and 
clustering  ringlets  shadowed  the  rosy  blush  of  her 
lovely  face.  A  number  of  beautiful  little  girls, 
dressed  in  white,  carrying  baskets  containing  flowers, 
preceded  Cinderella  and  the  Royal  Prince,  her  hand- 
some bridegroom,  and  strewed  their  path  with  flowers 
as  they  approached  the  altar. 

After  the  marriage  there  was  a  magnificent  ban- 
quet, and  festivities  upon  the  grandest  scale  were 
kept  up  for  several  days.  And  they  all  lived  to  a 
great  age  in  happiness  and  comfort. 


An  Address    to  Little  Boys 
and  Girls 


N  D  now,  my  dear  young  ladies  and 
gentlemen,  having  rewritten,  illus- 
trated, and  published  these  four 
Fairy  Tales  of  Hop-O-My-TIiunib, 
y  ack  and  the  Beaii-Stalk,  Cinder- 
ella, and  Puss  in  Boots,  I  wish 
to  say  a  few  words  to  you  about 
Fairy  Tales  ;  and  first,  to  tell  you  that  I  dearly  love 
all  little  children,  and  have  always  through  life  done 
the  best  I  could  to  amuse,  and,  if  possible,  at  the  same 
time  to  instruct  them  ;  and  I  am  one  of  those  persons 
who  recollect  that  I  was  once  a  child  myself  ;  but  I  am 
sorry  to  say  that  many  persons  seem  entirely  to  for- 
get that  they  were  once  children  themselves  !  And 
the  consequence  is  that,  in  some  cases,  they  are  very 
angry  and  unkind  to  children  for  doing  things  which 
perhaps  many  of  them  were  guilty  of  when  they  them- 
selves were  children. 

In  my  childhood,  and  when  a  very  little  boy,  I  re- 
collect that  I  used  to  be  very  much  pleased  and  de- 


202      To  Little  Boys  and  Girls 

lighted  with  Fairy  Tales  ;  and  it  so  happened  that 
my  nurse  at  that  time  was  a  young  woman  who  used 
to  tell  a  great  many  Fairy  Tales,  and  many  an  evening 
have  I  sat  by  the  fireside,  listening  with  wonder  and 
delight  to  her  stories  about  these  wonderful  little 
people,  and  I  once  asked  her  where  the  little  Fairies 
lived.  She  told  me  that  some  of  them  had  houses  in 
the  white  places  in  the  corners  of  the  cellars.  These 
white  places  were  composed  of  fungus — a  sort  of  mush- 
room produced  by  the  damp  in  the  cellars. 

I  took  the  first  opportunity  of  peeping  at  these 
white  houses  in  the  corners  of  the  cellars,  where 
these  fungi  were  growing  on  the  walls,  and  about 
which,  in  some  places,  were  also  large  cobwebs ;  and 
whether  they  were  spiders,  or  flies,  or  some  other  in- 
sects, or  the  force  of  my  excited  childish  imagination, 
I  know  not,  but  I  certainly  did  at  the  time  fancy  that 
I  saw  very,  very  tiny  little  people  running  in  and  out 
of  these  little  white  houses  ;  and  I  now  believe  that 
any  talent  or  power  that  I  may  have  in  drawing  a 
Fairy,  or  describing  one,  had  its  origin  in  the  early 
impressions  these  little  people  made  upon  my  mind 
at  that  early  age. 

Between  two  and  three  hundred  years  back  there 
lived  a  great  poet  or  author — his  name  was  WILLIAM 
SHAKESPEARE — of  whom,  if  you  have  not  yet 
heard,  you  will  be  sure  to  hear  as  you  grow  up,  and 
whose  writings  or  works  you  will  be  sure  to  read.  I 
have  often  pictured  in  my  own  mind,  and  indeed  have 
made  a  sketch  of  this  grreat  man  when  he  was  a  little 


To  Little  Boys  and  Girls       203 

boy,  seated  on  a  little  stool  by  the  side  of  an  old  lady 
spinning  threads  from  a  distaff,  and  supposed  to  be 
telling  the  little  Willy  a  Fairy  Tale,  which  he  listens  to 
with  upturned  eyes  and  marked  attention  ;  and  I  am 
sure  that  it  was  by  his  thus  listening  to  this  sort  of 
tales,  and  afterwards  reading  little  books  of  Fairy 
Tales,  that  created  in  his  mind  a  taste  or  liking  for 
such  things,  and  no  doubt  these  early  and  first  im- 
pressions were  the  foundation  or  the  cause  of  his 
describing,  when  he  grew  to  be  a  man,  those  beautiful 
fairies  called  Oberon,  Titania,  Puck,  and  others,  in  a 
work  called  the  The  Midsummer  Nighfs  Dream; 
also  Queen  Mab  and  other  Fairies  in  another  work 
called  Romeo  and  J idict,  and  Ariel  in  The  Tempest. 

Now,  my  dear  young  friends,  although  these  Fairy 
Tales  about  the  little  people,  and  about  giants  and 
ogres,  may  be  very  astonishing  and  very  amusing, 
yet  I  do  not  wish  you  to  believe  that  there  are  such 
thinofs  or  that  there  ever  were  such  o-reat  bi^r  creat- 
urcs  as  these  giants  are  described  to  be,  or  such  hor- 
rible monsters  as  oofres,  or  such  little  creatures  as 
fairies,  either  good  or  bad  ;  and  therefore  I  wish  you 
to  understand  that  I  only  place  these  little  books  be- 
fore you  to  amuse  you,  and,  if  possible,  to  convey 
some  good  lessoris  and  advice,  but  not  on  any  account 
to  frighten  you.  No  !  My  little  dears,  do  not  be  afraid 
of  such  things  ;  but  be  sure  that  God  is  too  good  to  let 
any  such  things  exist  to  frighten  or  hurt  dear  little 
children  or  anybody,  little  or  big. 


To  The  Public 


TAKE  this  opportunity  to  advert 
to  some  criticisms  upon  my  Fairy 
Library,  which  have  appeared  in 
two  or  three  pubhcations.  In 
one,  The  Ijigttircr,  a  gentleman, 
whom  I  have  not  the  pleasure  of 
knowing,  seems  to  think  it  a  great  absurdity  that  the 
story  of  "Jack  and  the  Bean-Stalk"  should  be  laid  in 
the  time  of  Alfred  the  Great.  Now  this  ??iay  be  very 
absurd,  but  I  beg  to  inform  the  writer  of  that  article 
that  the  absurdity  did  not  originate  with  me.  I  sim- 
ply copied  it  from  an  old  edition  of  the  story.* 

In  conclusion,  I  will  just  take  the  liberty  of  suggest- 
ing to  those  gentlemen  who  may  feel  inclined  to  criti- 
cise my  editing  of  these  Fairy  Tales,  that  they  had 
better  make  themselves    somewhat  acquainted  with 


*I  ha vey('Kr  editions  of  Cinderella,  now  before  me,  «// differing  most  materi- 
ally from  each  other  ;  and  I  may  as  well  here  observe  that  I  did  not  expect  it 
would  be  necessary  to  alter  a  single  line  of  t/tis  story  ;  but  upon  looking  through 
the  several  books,  I  found  sovif  vulgarity,  mixed  up  with  so  much  that  was  use- 
less and  unfit  for  children,  that  I  was  obliged  (much  against  my  wish)  to 
rewrite  the  whole  story  ;  in  doing  which  I  have  introduced  a  few  Temperance 
Truths,  with  a  fervent  hope  that  some  good  may  result  therefrom. 

204 


To  the  Public 


205 


all  the  old  editions  of  these  stories  before  they  find 
fault  with  my  version.  Otherwise  they  may  probably 
fall  into  some  rather  absurd  mistakes,  such  as  the  one 
pointed  out  above,  and  also  such  as  my  friend  Charles 
Dickens  has  fallen  into,  in  his  paper  entitled  "  Frauds 
on  the  Fairies,"  in  Household  IVoi'ds ;  in  conse- 
quence of  which  I  got  my  tiny  friend,  "  Hop-o'-my- 
Thumb,"  to  write  a  letter  to  him  upon  the  subject. 
This  letter  is  published  separately  by  my  friend,  Mr. 
Bogue,  of  86  Fleet  Street,  and  may  be  had  of  him 
and  all  Booksellers  "  for  the  small  charge  of  One 
Penny,"  and  is  of  the  same  size  as  the  Fairy  Library. 


George  Cruikshank. 


48    MORNINGTON    PlACE. 


To  Parents,  Guardians,  and 

all  Persons  Intrusted  with 

the  Care  of  Children 

T  the  end  of  the  part  of  the  Fairy 
Libi'ary  containing  Cindei^ella,  in 
answering  a  criticism  upon  my 
y  ack  and  the  Bean  Stalk,  allusion 
is  made  to  Mr.  Charles  Dickens's 
paper,  entitled  Fratids  on  the 
Fairies,  which  attack  upon  my  edition  of  Fairy  Tales 
was  answered,  as  I  dare  state,  by  Master  Hop-d-my- 
Thumb,  and  which  answer  was  published  at  Eighty-six 
Fleet  Street,  and  might  be  had  for  One  Penny.  This 
letter  of  Hop-dniy-TIuunb  is  out  of  print,  and  I 
therefore  take  this  opportunity  of  giving  the  sub- 
stance of  the  said  letter,  as  an  answer  and  as  a  de- 
fense for  rewriting  these  four  Fairy  Tales  to  suit  my 
own  taste  in  these  matters,  and  taking  at  the  same 
time  the  opportunity  of  introducing  my  own  views 
and  convictions  upon  what  I  consider  important  social 
and   educational    questions ;   and  for   so  doing   Mr. 


To  Parents  and  Guardians     207 


Charles  Dickens  thought  proper  to  publish  in  House- 
hold Words,  a  paper  entitled  Frauds  on  the  Fairies,  of 
which  the  followinor"  is  an  extract : 


t> 


"  We  may  assume  that  we  are  not  singular  in  entertaining  a  very- 
great  tenderness  for  the  fairy  literature  of  our  childhood.  What 
enchanted  us,  then,  and  is  captivating  a  million  of  young  fancies 
now,  has,  at  the  same  blessed  time  of  life,  enchanted  vast  hosts 
of  men  and  women  who  have  done  their  long  day's  work,  and 
laid  their  grey  heads  down  to  rest.  It  would  be  hard  to  es- 
timate the  amount  of  gentleness  and  mercv  that  has  made  its 
way  among  us  through  these  slight  channels.      Forbearance, 

COURTESY,  CONSIDERATION  FOR  THE  POOR  AND  AGED,  KIND 
TREATMENT    OF    ANIMALS,    THE    LOVE    OF    NATURE,    ABHORRENCE 

OF  TYRANNY  AND  BRUTE  FORCE — many  such  good  things  have 
been  first  nourished  in  the  child's  heart  by  this  powerful  aid.  It 
has  greatly  helped  to  keep  us,  in  some  sense,  ever  young,  by  pre- 
serving through  our  worldly  ways  one  slender  track  not  over- 
grown with  weeds,  where  we  may  walk  with  children,  sharing 
their  delights. 

"  In  an  utilitarian  age,  of  all  other  times,  it  is  a  matter  of  grave 
importance  that  fairy  tales  should  be  respected.  Our  English 
red-tape  is  too  magnificently  red  ever  to  be  employed  in  the  tying 
up  of  such  trifles,  but  every  one  who  has  considered  the  subject, 
knows  full  well  that  a  nation  without  fancy,  without  some  ro- 
mance, never  did,  never  can,  never  will,  hold  a  great  place  under 
the  sun.  The  theatre,  having  done  its  worst  to  destroy  these  ad- 
mirable fictions — and  having  in  a  most  exemplary  manner  de- 
stroyed itself,  its  artists,  and  its  audiences,  in  that  i)erversion  of 
its  duty — it  becomes  doubly  important  that  the  little  books  them- 
selves, nurseries  of  fancy  as  they  are,  should  be  preserved.  To 
preserve  them  in  their  usefulness,  they  must  be  as  much  preserved 
in  their  simplieity,  :ix\dpurity,  and  /«/wr^«/ extravagance,  as  if  they 
were  actual  fact.  Whosoever  alters  them  to  suit  his  own  opinions, 
whatever  they  are,  is  guilty,  to  our  thinking,  of  an  act  of  pre- 


2o8     To  Parents  and  Guardians 


sumption,  and  appropriates  to  himself  what  does  not  belong  to 
him. 

"  We  have  lately  observed  with  pain  the  intrusion  of  a  Whole 
Hog  of  unwieldy  dimensions  into  the  fairy  flower-garden.  The 
rooting  of  the  animal  among  the  roses  would  in  itself  havif 
awakened  in  us  nothing  but  indignation  !  " 

But  his  pain  arises,  as  he  says,  from  this  "  Whole 
Hog"  being  driven  in  by  one,  whom  he  charges  with 
altering  the  text  of  a  Fairy  Story  for  the  purpose  of 
propagating  doctrines  of  my  own,  and  protests  against 
my  right  to  do  so  ;  and  after  stating  that  the  theatres 
have  done  their  worst  to  destroy  these  fictions  (an 
opinion  which  I  have  the  temerity  to  say  is  altogether 
erroneous)  he  goes  on  to  say  that : 

"  It  becomes  doubly  important  that  the  little  books  themselves, 
nurseries  of  fancy  as  they  are,  should  be  preserved.  To  preserve 
them  in  their  usefulness,  they  must  be  as  much  preserved  in  their 
SIMPLICITY  and  purity  and  innocent  extravagance,  as  if  they 
were  actual  fact." 

In  reply  to  all  this,  I  have  to  state,  in  the  first 
place,  that  when  I  began  the  illustrations  for  this 
Faiiy  Library  I  commenced  with  Hop-O -My-TJiunib 
and  had  not  any  intention  to  make  any  altera- 
tions in  that  story ;  but  upon  frequently  referring 
to  the  text,  as  I  always  do  when  employed  this  way, 
so  as  thoroughly  to  understand  the  work,  and  for  the 
purpose  of  selecting  the  best  subjects  for  illustration, 
I  discovered  that  there  were  some  parts  of  this  Fairy 
literature  that  required,  as  I  thought,  a  little  pruning  ; 


To  Parents  and  Guardians     209 

but  I  found  so  much  difficulty  in  cutting  out  the  ob- 
jectionable parts,  so  as  to  leave  it  readable,  that  I 
decided  upon  rewriting  the  whole,  and  in  doing  this 
I  certainly  did  introduce  some  of  my  "  doctrines," 
and  on  this  point  he  declares  that  whoever  alters 
these  Fairy  Tales  to  suit  his  own  opinions  is  guilty  of 
an  act  of  presumption,  and  appropriates  to  himself 
what  does  not  belong  to  him.  This  is  the  opinion  of 
Mr.  Charles  Dickens  ;  but  in  my  humble  opinion,  if 
Shakespeare  thought  proper  to  alter  Italian  tales,  and 
even  history,  to  suit  his  purpose,  and  if  Sir  Walter 
Scott  used  history  also  in  the  same  way  for  his  pur- 
pose, surely  any  one  may  take  the  liberty  of  altering 
a  common  Fairy  Tale  to  suit  his  purpose,  and  convey 
his  opinions  ;  and  most  assuredly  so,  if  that  purpose 
be  a  good  one. 

And  now,  let  us  look  at  the  "  usefulness,"  "  sim- 
plicity," "  PURITY,"  and  "  INNOCENCE  "  of  Mr.  Dick- 
ens's favourite  Fairy  Tales,  which  he  declares 
ought  to  be  preserved  in  their  integrity,  he  having 
"  a  very  great  tenderness  for  the  Fairy  literature 
of  our  childhood."  For  this  end  I  call  attention  to 
the  story  of  Jack  the  Giant-Killer,  which  is  really 
little  more  than  a  succession  of  slaughterings  and 
bloodshed.  This  sort  of  example  cannot,  surely,  be 
very  useful  to  the  children  of  a  civilized  and  Christian 
people.  Then  that  pretty  little  episode  of  Jack  drop- 
ping his  dinner  into  a  bag,  suspended  under  his  chin, 
and  pretending  to  cut  his  stomach  open,  and  daring 
and  inducing  the  stupid  Giant  to  do  the  same  feat, 


2IO     To  Parents  and  Guardians 


which  he  does  on  his  rm/ stomach, and  the  shocking  and 
disgusting  result  thereof,  is  surely  neither  useful  nor 
imiocent ;  and  as  to  the  purity  of  this  tale,  why,  there 
are  in  some  of  the  old  editions  (such  as  Mr.  Dickens 
wishes  to  be  kept  entire)  some  parts  so  g7'oss  that  no 
decent  person  would  reprint  them  for  publication  in 
the  present  day.  And  in-  the  old  editions  of  Hop- 
0 -my- Thumb  and  the  Seven-League  Boots,''  two  copies 
of  which  I  have,  both  differing  most  materially 
from  each  other,  in  one  of  which  the  very  title  is 
altered  to  Minct  or  Little  Thumb,  the  father  of 
Hop-o'-my  Thumb  (who  it  must  be  remembered  is 
a  Count)  in  consequence  of  a  scarcity  of  food,  pro- 
poses, and  induces  the  mother,  the  Countess,  to  take 
the  children,  seven  in  number,  out  into  the  forest, 
and  leave  them  there  to  perish  miserably  of  hunger, 
or  to  be  devoured  by  wild  beasts. 

Now,  allow  me  to  ask  where  is  the  amoicnf  of  tender- 
ness and  mercy  to  be  found  in  such  an  unnatural  and 
horrible  act  as  is  here  narrated  ?  And  feeling  that 
such  a  statement  was  not  only  disgusting,  but  against 
nature,  and  consequently  unfit  for  the  pure  and  parent- 
loving  minds  of  children,  I  felt  certain  that  any  father 
acting  in  such  a  manner  must  either  be  mad,  or  under 
the  influence  of  intoxicating  liquor,  which  is  much  the 
same  thing ;  and  therefore,  wishing  to  avoid  any  al- 
lusion to  such  an  awful  affliction  as  that  of  insanity, 
I  accounted  for  the  father's  unnatural  conduct  by 
attributing  it  to  that  cause  which  marks  its  progress 
daily  and  hourly  by  acts  of  uimatural  brutality. 


To  Parents  and  Guardians      2 1 1 


In  these  old  editions,  which  Mr.  Dickens  wishes  so 
much  to  be  preserved  in  their  usefulness,  the  Ogre 
has  a  family  of  seven  children  ;  and  these  pretty  little 
darlings  are  thus  described  : 

"  They  were  yet  young,  and  were  of  a  fair  and 
pleasing  complexion,  though  they  devoured  human 
flesh  like  their  father  ;  but  they  had  little  round  grey 
eyes,  flat  noses,  and  long  sharp  teeth  set  wide  from 
each  other.  They  promised  already  what  they  would 
some  day  grow  to  be  ;  for  at  this  early  age  they  would 
bite  little  children  on  purpose  to  suck  their  bloods 

The  story  goes  on  to  say  that  Hop  and  his  broth- 
ers were  put  into  one  bed,  and  that  the  giant's  chil- 
dren were  sleeping  in  another,  in  the  same  room,  with 
"tiger-skin"  caps  or  "crowns"  on  their  heads,  and 
that  Hop  got  out  of  bed  whilst  all  were  asleep,  and 
exchanged  the  giant's  children's  seven  crowns  for  the 
seven  nightcaps ;  that  the  Ogre  awoke  in  the  night, 
and  regretting  that  he  had  not  slaughtered  Hop  and 
his  brothers,  sprang  out  of  bed,  and  taking  his  great 
sabre,  crept  softly  into  the  chamber  where  the  chil- 
dren lay,  and  approaching  the  bed  on  which  were 
those  of  the  Count,  he  felt  at  their  heads,  one  by  one, 
of  which  they  were  not  sensible,  except  Hop-o'-my- 
Thumb,  who  lay  awake  and  trembling  for  fear  of  dis- 
covery. The  Giant,  feeling  the  well-known  crowns 
on  the  heads  of  Hop  and  his  brothers,  said,  "Truly, 
I  must  have  drunk  too  much  last  night,  thus  to  mis- 
take one  bed  for  the  other."  He  then  went  immedi- 
ately to  the  bed  where  his  own  children  were  asleep, 


212      To  Parents  and  Guardians 

and  feeling  on  their  heads  the  caps  of  the  Count's 
children,  he  cut  their  tlu^oats  in  a  moment,  and  with^ 
out  remorse. 

Now,  I  would  ask  if  this  peculiarity  of  the  young 
Ogres — "  Biting  little  children  on  purpose  to  suck  their 
blood''  is  any  part  of  those"  many  such  good  things  " 
as  "  have  been  first  nourished  in  a  child's  heart "  ? 
And  I  should  also  like  to  know  what  there  is  so  en- 
chanting and  captivating  to  ''  young  fancies"  in'  this 
description  of  a  father  (ogre  though  he  be)  cutting 
the  throats  of  his  own  seven  children  ?  Is  this  the 
sort  of  stuff  that  helps  to  ''keep  us  ever  young  f  Or 
give  us  that  innocent  delight  which  we  may  share  with 
children  ?     It  then  goes  on  to  say  that  Hop — 

"  Having  thus  kindly  provided  for  the  immediate 
safety  of  his  brothers,  he  approached  the  giant  with 
great  caution,  and  pulling  off  his  wonderful  boots, 
which  he  put  on  without  delay,  Hop-o'-my-Thumb 
then  set  out  with  all  the  speed  his  boots  could  give, 
for  the  Giant's  house,  where  he  found  the  good 
mother  weeping  for  her  slaughtered  children.  '  Your 
husband,'  said  he,  addressing  her,  '  is  in  great  peril  ; 
he  has  been  taken  while  asleep,  by  a  band  of  robbers 
who  have  vowed  to  kill  him,  unless  he  gives  them  all 
his  grold  and  silver.  In  this  moment  of  distress,  with 
the  weapons  of  the  robbers  at  his  throat,  perceiving 
me,  he  prayed  me  to  acquaint  you  with  his  danger, 
and  to  desire  that  you  would  send  him  all  his  money 
and  valuables  without  reserve,  or  his  life  would  be- 
come  the   forfeit.     As   the  case  does  not  admit   of 


To  Parents  and  Guardians     2  i  3 

delay,  he  has  given  me  his  seven-league  boots,  that 
I  might  not  be  long  on  the  way,  and  that  you  may 
be  convinced  I  do  not  wish  to  deceive  you.  The 
good  woman,  who  knew  it  was  her  duty  to  preserve 
her  husband,  notwithstanding  his  faults,  gave  Hop- 
o'-my-Thumb  all  the  wealth  in  the  house,  which 
loaded  him  heavily  ;  yet  he  departed  highly  pleased 
with  the  burden.  " 

A  nice  young  gentleman,  certainly.  Mop  finds  the 
"  good  mother  weeping  for  her  slaughtered  children  " 
— (slaughtered  by  their  own  father!) — but  quite  un- 
moved by  this  maternal  grief,  he  is  made  to  tell  her 
a  »iost  aboDiinable  falsehood,  and  with  the  low,  artful 
cunning  of  a  young  "  thief,"  he  points  to  the  boots  as 
evidence  that  he  did  not  wish  to  deceive  her,  thus 
making  out  poor  little  "  Hop-o'-my-Thumb  "  to  be 
an  unfcclhio^  artful  liar  and  a  thief.  Surely  there  is 
not  much  ''purity"  in  /jv'w^  and  thieving,  and  such  a 
display  of  artful  falsehood  and  successful  robbery 
cannot  be  very  advantageous  lessons  for  the  juvenile 
mind  !  And  further,  in  Mr.  Dickens's  favourite  edi- 
tion, the  child  is  not  only  made  a  thief,  but  they 
make  Im  noble  parents  receivers  of  stolen  goods.  The 
famih" — father,  mother,  and  brothers — are  described 
as  being  in  great  grief  at  the  non-arrival  of  Master 
Mop  ;  but  th(,*  authors  say,  "  It  is  not  easy  to  imag- 
ine the  great  joy  that  filled  cverN-  heart  when  Hop- 
o'-my-Thumb  entered  their  apartment,  and  poured 
out  before  their  astonished  eyes  the  treasures  with 
which  he  was  loaded." 


2 1 4     To  Parents  and  Guardians 

The  Count  immediately  re-purchased  the  lands 
and  castles  that  he  had  before  sold ;  and  instructed 
by  his  late  sufferings,  spent  afterwards  his  time  and 
his  wealth  in  improving  the  minds  of  his  children 
(whom  he  had  taken  into  the  forest  to  starve  or  to 
be  devoured  by  wolves),  or  in  acts  of  benevolence  to 
the  surrounding  poor,  with  the  money  that  one  of  his 
children  had  robbed  the  poor  woman  of,  who  was 
weeping  in  great  anguish  for  the  loss  of  her  seven 
children,  slaughtered  by  mistake  by  their  own 
father. 

This  is  truly  another  pretty  example  for  children. 
A  father  and  mother  (of  noble  blood  too)  encourag- 
ing a  young  child  in  thieving,  and  at  once,  without 
hesitation,  appropriating  to  themselves  the  produce 
of  his  robbery  / 

And  then,  as  to  Puss  in  Boots,  when  I  came  to 
look  carefully  at  that  story,  I  felt  compelled  to  re- 
write it,  and  alter  the  character  of  it  to  a  certain  ex- 
tent ;  for,  as  it  stood,  the  tale  was  a  succession  of 
successful  falsehoods — a  clever  lesson  in  lying  ! — a 
system  of  imposture  rewarded  by  the  greatest  worldly 
advantages  !  A  useful  lesson,  truly,  to  be  impressed 
upon  the  minds  of  children  !  And  here  comes  a  seri- 
ous question  for  consideration  :  If  there  is  a  powerful 
effect  produced  upon  youthful  minds  by  Fairy  Tales, 
what  has  been  the  effect  of  such  instances  of  gross- 
ness,  vulgarity,  and  deceit  as  I  have  here  pointed 
out  ?  Little  boys  and  girls  are  sometimes  naughty, 
and   unfortunately   sometimes   very   naughty,   when 


To  Parents  and  Guardians      2  1 5 

grown  up.  May  it  not  be  possible,  I  ask,  that  the 
simplicity,  purity,  and  innocence  which  Mr.  Dickens 
is  so  anxious  to  preserve  may  have  had  some  influ- 
ence here  ?  At  any  rate,  parents  and  guardians  will 
agree  with  me  that  as  the  first  impressions  upon  a 
child's  mind  are  those  which  last  the  longest,  it  is 
therefore  most  important  that  these  impressions 
should  be  as  pure  as  possible,  and,  if  possible,  mor- 
ally useful  to  them  through  life  ;  and  this  object  I 
have  had  in  view  when  I  introduced  some  of  my 
"doctrines."  And*  what  are  these  doctrines  and 
opinions  ?  Aye  !  What  I  have  done  ?  Where  is 
the  offence  ?  Why,  I  have  endeavoured  to  inculcate 
at  the  earliest  age,  a  horror  of  drunkenness  and 
a  recommendation  of  total  abstinence  from  all 
INTOXICATING  LIQUORS,  which,  if  Carried  out  univers- 
ally, would  not  only  do  away  with  drunkenness  en- 
tirely, but  also  with  a  large  amount  of  poverty, 
misery,  disease,  and  dreadful  crimes  ;  also  a 
detestation  of  gambling,  and  a  love  of  all  that 
is  virtuous  and  good,  and  an  endeavour  to  impress 
on  every  one  the  necessity,  importance,  and  justice 
of  EVERY  child  in  the  land  receiving  a  useful  and 
religious  education.  And  I  would  here  ask  in 
fairness,  what  harm  can  possibly  be  done  to  Fairy 
literature  by  such  rewriting  or  editing  as  this  ? 
more  particularly  as  I  have  been  most  careful  in 
clearly  working  out  all  the  wild  poetical  parts  and 
faithfully  preserving  all  the  important  features  of 
each  tale,  so  that  all  the  wonderful  parts  are  given 


2i6     To  Parents  and  Guardians 

that  so  astonish  and  deHght  children,  but  in  what  I 
hope  a  more  readable  form,  quite  as  entertaining, 
and,  I  trust,  somewhat  more  useful. 

This  is  the  sum  and  substance  of  the  letter  alluded 
to,  which  was  supposed  to  be  written  by  Hop-'o-my- 
Thumb,  but  which  of  course  was  written  by 
Your  obedient  servant, 

George  Cruikshank. 


y  airg  ^aIfs  Bn5  yolfe  Eoff 


THE  LIGHT  PRINCESS 

and  Other  Fairy  Tales.  By  George  MacDonald.  Illustrated 
by  Maud  Humphrey.  New  cheaper  edition.  .  $i.25  net 
"  Once  upon  a  time  !  "  That  is  the  way  Dr.  MacDonald  begins 
his  fairy  tales,  so  we  may  be  quite  sure  that  they  are  real  fairy 
tales  and  not  "make-believes." 

"  His  stories  of  '  The  Light  Princess,  and  Other  Fairy  Tales,'  are  in. 
geniously  imagined  and  well  carried  out,  and  all  healthy-minded  children 
will  enjoy  reading  them  or  hearing  them  read." — Literary  World, 

MOONFOLK 

A  True  Account  of  the  Home  of  the  Fairy  Tales.  By  Jane  G. 
Austin.  Illustr.ited  by  65  designs,  drawn  and  engraved  on  wood 
by  W.  J.  Linton.        Or.  iivo. $1.25 

"The  most  fascinating  juvenile  since  'Alice  in  Wonderland. '"  —  Ckru- 
tian  Union. 

THE  CRUIKSHANK  FAIRY  BOOK 

Four  Famous  Stories.  T.  Puss  in  Boots.  II.  Jack  and  the 
Beanstalk.  HI.  Hop  o'  My  Thumb.  IV.  Cinderella.  With 
reproductioivs  of  tiie  characteristic  designs  of  CJeorge  Cruik- 
shank.     40  in  number.     8vo  ......     $1.25 

"This  is  one  of  the  most  attractive  juvenile  holiday  presents  that  can 
possibly  be  h.nl.  It  .ippe^ils  to  the  eye,  the  imacin-nion  and  the  compre- 
hension of  children.  Tlic  illustrutions  arc  just  \\\\.a  will  dtlij^ht  0  child'« 
fancy.  Simple,  dramatic,  absurd,  but  picturesque,  wu  can  imagine*  ^oup 
of  children  in  animated  couversTtinn  about  its  contents,  '.nd  reuroilucinK  it* 
visionary  sccuos  in  pl.iy  with  a  dt-light  never  to  be  forjjottcu  in  later  life.  — 
Boston  IVoniitn's  yournni. 

G.  F.   Putnam's  Sons     New  York  and  London 


By  MAUD  BALLINQTON  BOOTH 

Sleepy=Time  Stories 

With  introduction  by  Chauncey  M.  Depew,     With 
17  full-page  illustrations  by  Maud  Humphrey. 
8vo.     Net,  $1.25. 
"  Sleepy-Time  Stories '  is  one  of  the  most  charming  books 

for  little  children.     It  is  dainty  and  fascinating,  and  those  who 

can  read  it,  or  have  it  read  to  them,  will  want  sleepy-time  to 

come  very  often." — The  Congregationalisi. 

Lights  of  Childland 

With  II  full-page  illustrations  by  Alice  Farns- 
worth-Drew.  8vo.  iV.?/,  $1.25. 
"  Mrs.  Booth's  genial  talent  is  put  to  use  for  the  little  ones  in 
stories  so  full  of  gentle  mother-love  that  they  carry  the  older 
readers  back  to  the  days  when  they,  too,  were  soothed  to  slee]i 
qy  little  tales  like  these." — The  Chnrchman. 

Twilight  Fairy  Tales 

Wifh    16    full-page    colored    illustrations    and     16 

ornamental  half-titles,  by  Amy  C,  Rand.     8vo. 

Net,  lr.25. 

Mrs.   Booth's  earliest  books  won    for   herself   so 

muny  appreciative  readers  that  her  new  books  will  be 

sure  of  a  hearty  welcome.     These  stories  are  for  the 

rainy  afternoon,  for  the  fireside,  and  for  bedtime. 

They  are  an  evidence  of  the  familiarity  of  the  author 

with  the  hearts  of  children. 

Q.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 

NEW  YORK  ♦  LONDON 


Fairy  Tales 

By 
Oscar  Wilde 

12°.     With  Colored  Frontispiece  and  Other 
Illustrations.     $1.25  net.     By  mail,  $1.40 

The  volume  contains  the  following  titles: 
The  Happy  Prince,  The  Young  King,  The  Star 
Child,  The  Selfish  Giant,  The  Nightingale  and 
the  Rose,  The  Devoted  Friend,  The  Remark- 
able Rocket,  The  Birthday  and  the  Infanta, 
The  Fisherman  and  His  Soul. 

These  children's  stories  exhibit  in 
combination  a  gariand  of  rare  qualities 
— a  sprightly,  aerial  fancy,  a  style  of 
exquisite  grace,  beauty  and  delicacy  of 
sentiment,  and  the  story-teller's  magic 
gift  of  holding  spell-bound  alike  young- 
ster and  children  of  an  older  growth. 

Q.  P.  Putnam's  Sons 

New  York  London 


Books  for  Boys 


Boys    of    Other    Countries 

By  Bayard  Taylor 

Author  of  "  Views  Afoot,"  "  The  Story  of  Kenneth,"  etc. 

Third  Edition  with  additional  chapters  on  Studies  of 
Animal  Nature  and  The  Robber  Region  of  Southern 
California 

With  8  Full-page  Illustrations  in  Color  and  8  other  Illus- 
trations after  Original  Designs  by  Frederick  Simpson  Cobum 

New   Edition  with  Additional  Material,  Printed  from  New 

Plates,    Beautifully  Bound.     Full  Size.     8°.     Handsome 

Cover  Design,     52.00  net     Postage  extra 

"Nobody  knows  better  than  this  author  does  how  to 
tell  a  good  story,  and  there  are  not  many  persons  who  have 
better  stories  than  he  has  to  tell." — New  York  Evening  Pott 

Mr.  Midshipman  Esisy 

By  Captain  Marryat 

Large  8°,     With  16  Full.'page  Illustrations,  and  ornamental 

bead"   and  tail^pieces   by  R.  F,   Zogbaum.     Decorative 

Wrapper.     Net,  SI.  75.     Postage  extra 

"  This,  the  best  sea-story  ever  written,  needs  no  intro- 
duction. Nor  does  this  edition  of  it  need  any,  if  one  has 
ever  had  a  chance  to  look  at  it." 

Twenty  Thousand  Leagues 
under  the  Sea 

By  Jules  Verne 

Large  8°.     With  24  FuWpage  Illustrations  redrawn  from  the 
original  French  edition.     Net,  S1.75.     Postage  extra 

"  A  fine  edition  of  a  fine  book.  This  is  perhaps  the 
most  fascinating  of  all  Verne's  books,  and  remarkable  in 
that,  under  the  guise  of  fiction,  it  foretold  some  of  the  most 
startling  scientific  discoveries  of  to-day." 

New  York      G.  P.  Putnam*S   Sons      London 


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